God’s houses in Mississippi are under siege.

At least that’s the bill of goods some state lawmakers are selling with the Church Protection Act—a preemptive Dirty Harry-meets-Samson line in the sand granting worshippers a chance to pack heat while channeling the Holy Ghost.

“Worse actually comes to worse and in a religious service people have a right to defend themselves,” Larry Dean, pastor of the Bridgetown Baptist Church in Nesbit, Mississippi told The Daily Beast. “Some people that are part of terrorist organizations or not have taken advantage of the fact that people in churches are unarmed.”

The 65-year-old preacher suggests that churches, with their large head count and sacred grounds, make both him and his faithful vulnerable.

“The reality is that we’re a soft target,” he said. “Anyone can carry a weapon at any time and do whatever evil they […]