History Main / GunsInChurch

** Most Westerns would have you believe this was case in the wild west. In reality many towns at the time had ordinances requiring you to turn your guns over at a saloon or livery while you were in town. This was one of the things that led up to the shootout between the Earps and the Clantons & McLaurys at the O.K. Corral, since the former were attempting to disarm the latter.

For when a shootout actually does take place in a church, see BloodstainedGlassWindows. If the clergy are taking an active part in the proceedings, they may be members of a ChurchMilitant.

* ''Film/JohnWick'' stages a shootout in a church, complete with Wick shooting the priest first thing, and with a part two in its parking lot. [[spoiler:Makes sense, given the church in question is actually a front for TheMafiya and all...]]

** Gun shop carry rules are also often in place to prevent incidents of negligent discharge in the "trying out holsters" situation (holsters come in all manner of designs to accommodate differing body types and carry positions. Quality holsters can be expensive, and carrying a 4lb chunk of metal on your body in a poorly-fitting holster can be very uncomfortable, making "try before you buy" a good idea in holster selection if you're not independently wealthy). And yes, there ''have'' been cases where a guy walked into a gun store (with customers in there) [[TooDumbToLive and tried to rob it]]. Even funnier in the RealLife version of the story: The robber had to ''[[WhatAnIdiot walk past a police car]]'' to get to the gun shop. He was promptly ventilated.

->'''Inspector Yang''': You can't bring guns in here! This is a church! It's a holy place!\\
'''Inspector Watson''': That's okay. You see these? These are holy guns. Because they make a rather large hole-y.
-->-- '''Creator/JackieChan''' and '''Lee Evans''' in ''Film/TheMedallion''

* ''Series/BrassEye'' evoked this in a satirical NewsParody about [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NAQy8v0d_qo America's fascination with handguns]].

* The [[BritsWithBattleships Cameron Highlanders]][[note]]Amalgamated three times; their current descendant unit is the Highlanders, 4th Battalion, Royal Regiment of Scotland (4 SCOTS)[[/note]] had a tradition of maintaining military discipline during Church services, including posting sentries and keeping arms nearby. This is an invocation of the time when their ancestors were a Protestant regiment with lots of Catholic troops nearby.

* ''Franchise/TheElderScrolls'' games vary. In ''[[VideoGame/TheElderScrollsArena Arena]]'' and ''[[VideoGame/TheElderScrollsIIDaggerfall Daggerfall]]'' nobody notices you pointing your Daedric Longsword at them in a threatening manner. In ''[[VideoGame/TheElderScrollsIIIMorrowind Morrowind]]'' and ''[[VideoGame/TheElderScrollsIVOblivion Oblivion]]'', however, keeping your weapon drawn while talking to people will result in barely noticeable disposition penalties.
** In ''[[VideoGame/TheElderScrollsVSkyrim Skyrim]]'' guards will complain if you go around with your weapon drawn, but will do nothing to make you sheath it. Also, [=NPCs=] may comment if you have a spell ready

* ''Franchise/TheLegendOfZelda'' 3D games generally prevent Link from using weapons while in houses and other town buildings, but the 2D games allow him to commit violence everywhere. In particular, in ''VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaOcarinaOfTime'' Link cannot draw his sword in Castle Town, though he can draw his sword and swing it around the his heart's content in every other town. An exception is ''VideoGame/ZeldaIITheAdventureOfLink'': Link's sprites show him constantly holding his sword, even if he is in a peaceful town. One must wonder if this makes the townspeople nervous.

* In the Pixar film ''WesternAnimation/{{Up}}'', a member of Ellie's half of the church attendees fires a single gunshot in one of the back pews after the couple kisses on the altar.

* In ''Series/TheLastKingdom'', Uthred gets into whole heaps of trouble when he not only carries but ''draws'' his sword in a church, in anger, in the middle of a service, in the presence of ''the king'' in anger.

* Inverted in ''Manga/BlackLagoon'' as the church is the gun runner, appropriately called "The Violence Church" ("The Ripoff Church" by other people). Even [[NeverMessWithGranny head sister is armed with]] [[BlingBlingBANG Gold plated and engraved Desert Eagle.]]

'''Churches are only a minor example.'''

[[caption-width-right:350:Hey, yutz! Guns aren't toys! They're for family protection, hunting dangerous and delicious animals and keepin' the King of England out of your face!]]

-->-- '''Creator/JackieCha'''n and '''Lee Evans''' in ''Film/TheMedallion''

-->-- ''Creator/JackieChan and LeeEvans in TheMedallion''

[[quoteright:350:[[WesternAnimation/TheSimpsons http://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/b436631dc4366b447da17ee8a404a761.png]]]]

-->--''Creator/JackieChan and LeeEvans in TheMedallion''

*** A group of Black Panthers led by Bobby Seale once carried assault rifles right into the California state capitol building. This was done to protest a bill submitted in the state assembly to outlaw open carrying of firearms (as they had done while patrolling black neighborhoods to protect people from police brutality, resulting in shootouts at times). It passed, and RonaldReagan, then Governor of California ([[{{Irony}} later so pro-gun he wouldn't even support restrictions proposed after he himself was shot]]) signed it into law. In certain areas of Massachusetts, there are artifact laws requiring you to bring a gun to church (Danvers and Salem), which were passed in colonial times, when it was quite possible that people might need to protect themselves from hostile natives attacking during the sermon.