Guns
Rumors of gun purchases dogged Prophet's Church for 30 years. Some church members had privately purchased a large cache of weapons and ammunition in 1973-1974 during the first survival phase in Colorado and Idaho. These included over 100 AR-15 assault rifles, the civilian version of the M-16. Though the goal of acquiring the weapons privately was to avoid scrutiny, the purchases occurred with full knowledge of the Summit Lighthouse board of directors. It was part of an organizational plan called "Operation Christ Command" (OCC) which included the stockpiling of dried food, precious metals, and camping gear. In the early 1970s, staff at TSL's Colorado Springs headquarters were required to take a vow of poverty. So any private funds used for gun purchases would have otherwise been turned over to the church—rendering the "private funds" vs. "church funds" distinction moot. Still, the existence of these guns was discussed and denied by Church leaders during their appearance on the Oprah Winfrey Show in 1989.
That same year, in their plan to protect the bomb shelters, Prophet's then-husband Edward Francis, and staff member Vernon Hamilton purchased more high-powered weapons in Washington state. They registered their purchases under the stolen identity of deceased San Francisco attorney Malcolm Pace, leading to Hamilton's arrest.
[20] The $100,000 arsenal seized by ATF agents included seven Barrett .50 caliber semi-automatic sniper rifles, and a number of smaller .308 and .223 military-style firearms. The guns were legal to own, but in trying to protect the Church's image by hiding their identities, Francis and Hamilton opened themselves up to criminal prosecution. Hamilton served four months, and Francis also spent a month in jail and several months under house arrest. Even as late as 1999, a U.S. House of Representatives report mentioned the incident, citing CUT as an example of a "Doomsday Religious Cult".
[21]
At the time, Elizabeth Clare Prophet disavowed any knowledge of the two men's plans. But according to the Billings Gazette, her daughter Erin Prophet contradicted this claim in her 2008 book
Prophet's Daughter [22]