Religious centers across the country are purchasing added coverage against this terrifying trend.
Places of worship such as churches, mosques, synagogues and other types of temple and religious center are buying active assailant insurance and other special forms of coverage. This move is meant to help the centers to protect themselves financially in case of an armed intruder opening fire on their premises.
Many religious congregations have found themselves reassessing their current insurance policies.
Following a rise in the number of shootings occurring in houses of worship, these religious centers are seeking to ensure that they will have the finances to continue onward following such a tragedy. Though active assailant insurance wasn’t much of a thought a handful of years ago, this type of coverage has spiked following the vicious rise in this type of incident across the country and around the world, for that matter.
“You didn’t think about it until the last couple of years and now it’s something that you think about all the time,” said Willow Creek Community Church director of risk management, Brian McAuliffe in a Reuters report. His church has six locations in Illinois and serves a congregation of about 20,000 people.
The risk of violence is concerning to religious centers who are seeking active assailant insurance.
There has been a significant rise in shootings in recent years. Moreover, religious centers have been targeted as a location for these violent activities. At the end of April, a gunman identified as John Earnest (19) opened fire in the Chapad of Poway synagogue in San Diego’s suburbs, killing one woman and injuring three others. Last week, he pleaded not guilty to the shootings.
That attack occurred on the last day of Passover and marked the six month anniversary of the shooting and killing of 11 worshippers on the other side of the country at a synagogue in Pittsburgh.
That said, the attacks have been spread across the country and have included many different faiths among their victims. Moreover, not all attacks have been shootings. Though those are on the rise, so has arson as was the case in three mainly black churches in southern Louisiana which occurred from March 26 through April 4. Active assailant insurance is being considered among many religious centers to ensure that if they should be targeted, they will have 
the necessary funds to recover, rebuild and continue to be there for their congregants at a time when they feel most needed.