Police dept blessing of their guns

[Dunross]

This will probably sound like an odd question, but here goes. I seem to recall reading some years ago that some police departments used to have an annual blessing of their guns by the department chaplain for their use in the cause of rightousness, justice, etc. This was not a universal practice as I recall, but only in certain parts of the country, notably the northeast.

I've tried searching on this everyway I can think of, but the politics of the last ten years or so is swamping my results.

Does this sound like something you have heard of or am I simply misremembering?

Thanks.

 

[Ranger99]

I don't guess it's any worse than
the blessing of the fleet ( shrimp boats)
they do in south Louisiana where I
occasionally fish

 

[armoredman]

Nowhere in Arizona have I ever heard of that - is it in Europe, perhaps?

 

[hso]

Never heard of it, but I can imagine it being done 50 tears ago in some communities.

 

[Riomouse911]

News to me, but there are lots and lots of agency traditions I am not familiar with.

Stay safe.

 

[lemaymiami]

I started my police work a bit more than fifty years ago down here in paradise (south florida) and never heard of this anywhere... Wouldn't be surprised though since years before I got into that world there were many places with hardly any rules on their conduct... Essentially small departments were making it up as they went along. That sort of stuff can lead to exciting outcomes (and in police work - that's the absolutely last thing you ever want to be involved in (my opinion...).

 

[Armored farmer]

I have heard of this type of blessing.
Not guns, but here it was farm machinery.
(tractors).

 

[Simple Shooter]

Never heard of such a thing in all my years associated with law enforcement.

There is a movement requesting the Vatican to make Saint Gabriel Possenti the patron saint of handguns, but I doubt it will be successful. Story here: https://ucatholic.com/blog/saint-gabriel-possenti-the-potential-patron-of-handguns/

 

[JeeperCreeper]

In my Midwest/Appalachian hometown, lots of churches did "blessings" of various things as outreach.

Blessings of the Bikes was always my favorite because it was a big picnic and turned into a bike/car show.

So I can see it. Maybe not guns, but def police cruisers or something.

 

[Speedo66]

Started LE in the north east in 1969, have never heard of this anywhere.

Pets yes, guns no.

 

[bannockburn]

Dunross

I have heard of religious blessings being given by priests for hunters and their guns, as well as blessings and prayers for police officers, but never have come across anything about the same practice being given for the guns that the police use.

As hunting season begins, parish hosts blessing of weapons, hunters - The Compass

 

[old lady new shooter]

Never heard of such a thing in all my years associated with law enforcement.

There is a movement requesting the Vatican to make Saint Gabriel Possenti the patron saint of handguns, but I doubt it will be successful. Story here: https://ucatholic.com/blog/saint-gabriel-possenti-the-potential-patron-of-handguns/

I kinda like it.

 

[deadeye dick]

Up in l.i. N.Y. we had the Blue Knights annual blessing of the bikes. this was a must do each spring. Had about 300 bikes or more. Here in S.C. not at all.

 

[DeepSouth]

I've tried searching on this everyway I can think of, but the politics of the last ten years or so is swamping my results.

Just fYI:

Search Google Using a Specific Range of Time or Date:

1. Go to Google.com and search for whatever you’re looking for like you normally would.
2. On the left side of the page click “Show Search Tools“.
3. You’ll now see a list of different search options. Notice that “Anytime” is currently highlighted in red. To see results from a different span of time, select the appropriate option from the list. Notice that you can also define a “Custom range…

 

[W.E.G.]

Ominus... Dominius... keep TAPCO off of us....

 

[Speedo66]

Ominus... Dominius... keep TAPCO off of us....

View attachment 1126696

Holy water doesn’t rust guns?

 

[Com 45acp]

Maybe you are thinking of Blessing of the badges?

 

[MedWheeler]

Also spent time on the job beginning in the eighties and never heard of that.

Was with a volunteer fire department before that; we did have a little ceremony when we placed a new unit of apparatus in service, and that included a blessing/prayer conducted by our chaplain.

 

[shafter]

I've heard of blessing fishing fleets but never department guns. If it happened it was probably something that one small town department may have done. It is not a common practice.

 

[Theinkman]

Here in MN a number of towns, particularly northern MN, have an annual blessing of the snowmobiles.

 

[Archie]

Okay. I'll jump in. I'm a retired lawman (Feds), a lifelong Christian (sometimes more observant than others), an ordained preacher and currently a chaplain.

I'm of the category generally called protestant. So that probably has a great deal to do with perspective. One notes the photos (which may not be the entire story) are featuring more Orthodox ministers than protestant. I use Orthodox in the sense of being a movement of Christianity, and not in the strict dictionary sense of 'by the book'. Not a criticism but an acknowledgement of perspective.

As protestant:
No 'blessing' of inanimate objects are recognized. However, it is perfectly to petition (pray for) the tires holding up (within reason) the engine running as it should and decent roads. And protection from idiot drivers.
In a similar manner, one could pray for protection for officers (fire-fighters, combatants and EMTs) and protection for their souls. Such protection is predicated on the intervention of God and not some sort of good luck spell. One could easily pray for one's arms to function properly in times of danger. But simply blessing an artifact of metal (or plastic) is not what most protestants would seek.

Let me quickly add that the God of the Bible does not encourage stupidity. God expects His people to take care of equipment, not presume He will prevent difficulties with lack of maintenance. One also needs consider that God's view and concern is for eternity, not always immediacy. I do not expect God to prolong my life to some specific age, but I do expect to spend eternity with God when I die. Hopefully, honorably.

 

[kwguy]

Saw a soldier bless a rocket pod with a little wand of some type, after having loaded it.

 

[Robert]

This wasn't really on topic to begin with and went down hill from there.