Florida Just Changed the Law for Armed Church Volunteers. Here's What That Actually Means.

By Adam Shrider | Gatekeeper Defense Training LLC

On July 1st, 2026, Florida Chapter 2026-46 takes effect. It removes the Chapter 493 private security licensing requirement for unpaid volunteers providing armed security at houses of worship.

That's a good thing. The law was a barrier that was keeping responsible, well-meaning people from stepping into a role their congregation desperately needed them to fill.

But I want to talk about what the law didn't change — because that's the part that actually matters for the people in your pews.

I've Been Inside This World for Over 20 Years

Before I was a firearms instructor, I spent over two decades serving in the local church — as an usher, a safety team member, and eventually helping build and lead safety teams from the inside. I know what Sunday morning looks like from the ground level. I know the culture, the people, the dynamics, and the weight of the responsibility that comes with caring for a congregation.

And I know that for most of that time, the conversation about church safety was either nonexistent or treated as someone else's problem.

That's changing. The Sutherland Springs shooting in 2017 changed it for a lot of churches. The West Freeway Church of Christ shooting in 2019 — where an armed volunteer stopped an attacker in six seconds — changed it for even more. Churches across Florida are now asking the right questions.

Florida's new law is a reflection of that shift. The state recognized that unpaid volunteers who carry every Sunday shouldn't be held to the same licensing framework as paid professional security personnel.

I agree.

But here's what I need every pastor, elder, safety director, and armed volunteer in Florida to understand: the law removed a licensing barrier. It didn't remove the responsibility to train.

The Law Can't Change What Happens Inside a Crowded Sanctuary

I've trained a lot of church safety team members over the years. I currently serve on one myself. And the thing I tell every single student before we ever touch a firearm is this:

A sanctuary is one of the most difficult defensive environments you will ever operate in.

It's crowded. People are seated shoulder to shoulder. There are children present. Elderly members who can't move quickly. Narrow aisles. Inconsistent lighting. Acoustics that amplify every sound. Parishioners who will freeze, run, scream, or fall — all at the same time — the moment something goes wrong.

Now add an active threat. Now add adrenaline. Now add the fact that your fine motor skills, your decision-making, and your visual processing all change under extreme stress. They don't get better. They get worse. That's not a character flaw — that's physiology. It happens to trained law enforcement officers. It happens to military veterans. It will happen to you.

The question is whether you've trained for it.

A Concealed Carry License Is Not Church Safety Training

I say this as someone who believes deeply in the right to carry and in the responsibility that comes with it.

Carrying a firearm every Sunday is not the same as being prepared to use it defensibly in a crowded sanctuary. A basic concealed carry course teaches you the fundamentals of safe handling and the legal framework for carrying. It does not teach you how to identify a threat through a panicked crowd, how to make a shoot or don't-shoot decision in under a second, or how to communicate with a partner covering the opposite side of the building.

Those are different skills. They require different training.

I'm not saying this to discourage anyone. I'm saying it because the people in your pews are counting on you — and they deserve someone who has done more than show up with good intentions and a holster.

Good intentions don't stop threats. Training does.

What the Law Actually Requires — And What It Doesn't

Florida Chapter 2026-46 removes the Chapter 493 licensing barrier for unpaid church security volunteers. It does not:

• Define a minimum training standard for those volunteers

• Eliminate civil liability for the church or the volunteer

• Remove the legal standard for the use of deadly force in Florida

• Protect a church from negligence claims if an untrained volunteer makes a bad decision

That last point deserves a moment of attention.

If your church organizes an armed safety team, approves them to carry on church property, and one of those volunteers shoots the wrong person — or misses and hits a parishioner — the church can be drawn into civil litigation. The questions will be direct: Who selected this person? What training was required? Who approved the safety plan? Was there a written use-of-force policy?

A law that removes a licensing barrier doesn't answer any of those questions for you.

What a Serious Church Safety Program Actually Looks Like

I've been building and training church safety teams from the inside. Here's what I believe every team needs — not as a legal checklist, but as a genuine commitment to the people they're protecting:

Formal selection. Not everyone who volunteers to carry should be on the safety team. Temperament matters. Judgment matters. A background review matters.

Written policies. Role, authority, use of force, de-escalation, communication, and coordination with law enforcement. These need to exist on paper before they're needed in practice.

Use of force training. Florida law justifies deadly force only when a person reasonably believes it's necessary to prevent imminent death or great bodily harm. Your team needs to understand what that means — and more importantly, what it doesn't mean.

Live fire training beyond static paper shooting. Drawing from concealment, shooting on the move, multiple target engagement, stress inoculation. The range should be uncomfortable sometimes. That's the point.

Scenario-based training in your actual building. Walking the hallways, pieing the corners, practicing communication with a partner. Not in a generic classroom. In the building where it would actually happen.

Team communication and identification. When law enforcement arrives, they don't know who the good guys are. Your team needs a protocol for that.

Documentation. Every training event, every qualification, every policy update. Documentation protects the volunteer, the church, and the congregation.

The Law Opened the Door. Training Is What Makes You Ready to Walk Through It.

Florida did something good by removing an unnecessary licensing barrier for church volunteers. The intent is right. Houses of worship should be able to protect their people without navigating a regulatory framework designed for paid commercial security firms.

But the responsibility that comes with carrying in a house of worship didn't change on July 1st. The weight of standing between your congregation and a threat didn't change. The people in those pews — the ones who have no idea there's an armed volunteer at the back of the room — they didn't change.

They're still counting on someone who took this seriously.

If your church has a safety team, train them. If your church is building one, build it right. If you're a volunteer who carries every Sunday and hasn't had formal training, now is the time.

The law gave you permission. The training gives you the ability to actually protect the people you love.

Adam Shrider is a USCCA-certified firearms instructor with over 20 years of church ministry experience as a servant leader, usher, and safety team member. He is the founder of Gatekeeper Defense Training LLC in Orlando, Florida, and currently serves as a safety team lead at his home church. He trains church safety teams and responsible armed citizens across Florida.

Called to Protect. Trained to Act.

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