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Lessons from Executive Protection to Adapt to Church Security

What can past attacks teach us about protecting executives today? The report, Historical Patterns in Attacks on Executives: Threats Exposure and Protective Strategy by Joe LaSorsa of LaSorsa & Associates, examines recurring motives, vulnerabilities, and practical lessons for security teams, such as:

  • Visibility, predictable routines, and access help shape an executive’s exposure.
  • Threats can involve overlapping motives, including grievance, financial gain, and ideology.
  • Digital privacy and physical security need to work together.
  • Protection plans should include family support, medical response, and business continuity.

[ Read the SemperVerus article, Protection Book Review: Just 2 Seconds ]

While the report focuses on violent incidents in the corporate and political worlds—involving Abraham Lincoln, John F. Kennedy, J. Paul Getty III, Ronald Reagan, and others—the defensive principles extracted from these executive protection attacks can be applied to church security environments—including ministry leaders, congregational attendees, and the church building—such as the following:

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2.2 Million Defensive Gun Uses Per Year in America: Latest National Firearm Survey

88 million American adults—32.7% of the adult population—own 461 million firearms: 208 million handguns, 154 million rifles, 99 million shotguns, according to the 2026 National Firearms Survey by William English, PhD, assistant professor of Strategy, Economics, Ethics, and Public Policy in the McDonough School of Business at Georgetown University.

[ Read SemperVerus articles on the topic of THE 2ND AMENDMENT ]

The research shows that

  • 60 million AR-15 and similarly styled semi-auto rifles are owned by American adults; 30% of gun owners
  • 37.6% of gun owners have used a firearm defensively—about 2.2 million per year
  • 44.5 million adults own magazines holding more than 10 rounds—50.5% of gun owners—539 million such magazines in total (roughly 265 million handgun magazines and 273 million rifle magazines)—88% cite defensive purposes for owning such magazines.

[ Read the SemperVerus article, Senior US District Judge Declares Gun Magazine Capacity Limits Unconstitutional ]

The research sample size was 51,398 US residents aged 18 and over, including 16,688 self-identified gun owners, and the survey was conducted in July and August 2026 across all 50 states and the District of Columbia.

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International Christian Concern’s 2026 Global Persecution Index

More than 388 million Christians around the world are persecuted because of their faith in Jesus, according to International Christian Concern (ICC)’s 2026 Global Persecution Index (GPI).

[ Read SemperVerus articles on the topic of PERSECUTED CHRISTIANS ]

From China’s pressure on diaspora communities to Turkey’s targeting of exiled critics and religious minorities, persecution is a global threat that reaches far beyond national borders. The 2026 GPI emphasizes the rise of transnational repression, as regimes increasingly surveil, intimidate, kidnap, or pressure religious minorities and dissidents living abroad.

[ Read the SemperVerus article, Hostility Spreading Against Religious People: Pew Research ]

The 124-page free report provides in-depth analysis of the persecution Christians suffer in more than 20 countries grouped by the regions of Africa, Latin America, Middle East, South Asia, and Southeast Asia, including personal testimonies from believers (titled Faces of the Persecuted), and profiles of four notorious heads of state who incite persecution in their countries: Nigerian President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, Nicaraguan President Daniel Ortega, Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa, and Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

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Religious Liberty Commission Report Addresses Violence Against Houses of Worship

Americans should view religion as an “essential support” and always remember “the Creator who made us and bestows our rights….The Constitution protects religious liberty not by exiling religion from public life, but by preventing government from controlling it.”

[ Read the SemperVerus article, US Department of Justice Task Force Reports Steps to Eradicate Anti-Christian Bias in Government ]

So says the 224-page Presidential Religious Liberty Commission Report: Americans’ First Freedom published June 26, 2026 that identifies emerging threats to religious liberty, and makes recommendations for upholding “Federal laws that protect all citizens’ full participation in a pluralistic democracy, and protect the free exercise of religion.”

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Counterterrorism: Violent Extremist Mobilization Indicators

The US Violent Extremist Mobilization Indicators, 2025 Edition is a PDF pamphlet published by the National Counterterrorism Center (NCTC), Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), and Department of Homeland Security (DHS) to inform law enforcement, terrorism prevention practitioners, other first responders, community leaders, as well as the general public about both threats of violence and contextual behaviors that suggest an individual is mobilizing to violence.

[ Read SemperVerus articles on the topic of THREAT ANALYSIS ]

This is a helpful situational awareness resource for church security teams and self-defenders in general for identifying discernible pre-indicator signs of criminal and terrorist aggression.

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