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After Pittsburgh, Bklyn BP Eric Adams to Bring Gun into House of Worship

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What does the slaughter in Pittsburgh synagogue mean going forward? From around the country, opinions are flowing in.

“From now on,” Brooklyn borough president, Eric L. Adams, a retired captain of the New York Police Department, told the New York Times, “I will bring my handgun every time I enter a church or synagogue.”

As the Times made clear, the shooting “rekindled the national debate about how to assure safety at places of peace like synagogues, mosques and churches. In the wake of church massacres in Charleston, S.C., and in Sutherland Springs, Tex., some churches in states that allow people to carry concealed weapons encouraged members to bring their guns. President Trump said on Saturday that “if there was an armed guard inside the temple, they would have been able to stop” the shooter.”

Pittsburgh mayor Bill Peduto, said on “Meet the Press” on Sunday that more guns were not the answer. “I don’t think that the answer to this problem is solved by having our synagogues, mosques and churches filled with armed guards.”

New York City’s mayor, Bill de Blasio, told an interfaith gathering at another synagogue: “Houses of worship do not have to have armed guards to be able to practice their religions. That’s not America.”

Added city councilman Mark Levine, “I think that there is no freedom of religion in a society that requires you to carry a gun while you pray. I don’t want to have to sit next to someone carrying a gun in the pews.”

As USA Today reported the day after the shooting, synagogues around the nation have heightened security.

In Nashville, for example, law enforcement will be conducting extra patrols and checking in more frequently at Jewish buildings in Nashville, according to Metro Police Capt. Chris Taylor.

“The whole Jewish community continues to take security very seriously,” said Rabbi Laurie Rice. “We all take every precaution we can to ensure the security and sanctity of our campuses.”

Police in Lakewood and Toms River in New Jersey said they have increased patrols near synagogues following Saturday’s shooting. Lakewood police Capt. Gregory Staffordsmith told the paper that patrol officers assigned to areas in which synagogues are located have been instructed to “conduct extra checks in response to today’s shooting in Pennsylvania. In addition, officers assigned to our special response team have been deployed and will be visible and available if needed.”

In Arizona, Phoenix-area police agencies went on more patrols and secured Jewish buildings and other religious facilities Saturday. “We have not received any threats concerning synagogues or other houses of worship in Phoenix,” Sgt. Tommy Thompson told USA Today via email. “However, officers working in areas with synagogues and other houses of worship have been instructed to provide additional patrol watches in those areas.”

By Howard M. Riell

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