It was a little over two years ago now that Devin Patrick Kelley shot and killed 26 people, and wounded 20 more at a church in Sutherland Springs, Texas. Kelley had legally obtained the guns he used in the shooting, but he shouldn’t have had them.
Kelley, a former member of the Air Force, had been convicted of domestic violence and court-martialed. The Air Force failed to report Kelley’s criminal record multiple times. If they had reported him, his info would have been included in the National Instant Criminal Background Check System, known as NICS, which firearms dealers use before they sell guns to anyone. It was illegal for Kelley to have any guns, but he got them anyway.
Thanks to Texas lawmakers, the Sutherland Springs tragedy wasn’t about to happen again.
Killing Spree cut short by good guys with guns
When a gunman, 43-year-old Keith Thomas Kinnunen, a man with a criminal record, started shooting at the West Freeway Church of Christ, 6 armed men on the church security team moved right in on him. Kinnunen fired off two rounds, killing one deacon and injuring another member of the security team (who later died). Then a member of the security team, Jack Wilson, took one shot and killed the gunman. Only three shots total were fired and it was over.
Why was the West Freeway Church shooting so different from Sutherland Springs? It all comes down to a pro-gun bill, SB 535.
SB535 allows licensed carry in places of worship
In 2019, Texas governor Greg Abbott signed SB 535, a law allowing licensed gun owners to carry on church premises. The law, along with other new gun laws, took effect one day after the Odessa shooting on August 31, 2019.
The two mass shootings in the summer of 2019 in Odessa and El Paso also prompted Abbot to sign executive orders to better target possible mass shooters and respond to threats.
SB535, with church members willing to carry loaded weapons, cut this gunman’s killing spree very short. It lasted about 5 seconds, and the loss of life, though still terrible and too much, was limited to two rather than the 26 of the Sutherland shooting, thanks to the security team that saved many lives.
Democrats are still calling to disarm law-abiding citizens that want to protect themselves
Democrats like Joe Biden and Beto O’Rourke think that people in churches should not be able to defend themselves. Biden even speculated that it is just “irrational” for church members to be armed.
He couldn’t be more wrong. After what happened at the West Freeway Church of Christ, having armed people in the congregation is very rational indeed.
Just months ago, Joe Biden attacked the Governor of Texas for signing a law that allows people to bring guns into places of worship.
Today, Two brave, armed parishioners took down the gunman at the West Freeway Church of Christ.
They saved lives.pic.twitter.com/HlW9ZkKvL2
— Ryan Fournier (@RyanAFournier) December 30, 2019
Thankfully, the governor of Texas, Greg Abbot, thought it would be wise for church members to be able to attend church services while carrying a gun.
BREAKING: Video shows gunman open fire at West Freeway Church of Christ in White Settlement, Texas before being shot dead by armed security; the service was being live-streamed on YouTube pic.twitter.com/58YcB8ODT1
— GrantB911 (@GrantB911) December 29, 2019
Beto still thinks something is clearly wrong
So saddened to hear about another church shooting in Texas, this one in White Settlement near Fort Worth. Clearly what we are doing in Texas, what we are doing in this country, when it comes to guns is not working. https://t.co/krwcpL1lih
— Beto O’Rourke (@BetoORourke) December 29, 2019
The only thing “clearly wrong” is Beto O’Rourke. He should really acknowledge what went right. What Texas has done has clearly made it safer for people in churches that have armed security teams.
Houses of worship should have armed security teams
The machete attack on a Hannukah party in New York on Saturday and the attack on West Freeway Church of Christ should convince us all that places of worship are going to continue to be targeted by malicious killers until they stop seeing them as soft targets.
The West Freeway Church of Christ security team has shown us how to protect ourselves in houses of worship. We send our thoughts and prayers to the families of the West Freeway fallen.
Governor Abbot awards a Medal of Courage to Jack Wilson
Today I presented the Governor’s Medal of Courage to Jack Wilson.
He’s the hero who risked his life to save the lives of others by stopping a gunman in a deadly shooting at a church near Fort Worth.
It’s the highest award given to civilians in Texas. #txlege pic.twitter.com/UPaWjmsjTi
— Greg Abbott (@GregAbbott_TX) January 13, 2020
1,220 Responses
There is visibly a lot to identify about this. I feel you made various nice points in features also.
Hi! I’m at work surfing around your blog from my new iphone 4! Just wanted to say I love reading through your blog and look forward to all your posts! Carry on the great work!|
Hello I am so grateful I found your web site, I really found you by mistake, while I was looking on Askjeeve for something else, Nonetheless I am here now and would just like to say cheers for a tremendous post and a all round enjoyable blog (I also love the theme/design), I don’t have time to browse it all at the minute but I have bookmarked it and also added your RSS feeds, so when I have time I will be back to read more, Please do keep up the superb b.|
I am so happy to read this. This is the kind of manual that needs to be given and not the random misinformation that’s at the other blogs. Appreciate your sharing this greatest doc.
It’s awesome designed for me to have a web site, which is beneficial in support of my experience. thanks admin|
You are so great thanks
I loved as much as you’ll obtain carried out right here. The caricature is tasteful, your authored subject matter stylish. nonetheless, you command get got an edginess over that you want be turning in the following. ill undoubtedly come further previously again as exactly the similar just about a lot often inside of case you protect this increase.
This is really interesting, You are a very skilled blogger. I have joined your feed and look forward to seeking more of your excellent post. Also, I have shared your site in my social networks!
When I initially left a comment I appear to have clicked on the -Notify me when new comments are added- checkbox and from now on each time a comment is added I get four emails with the same comment. Is there a way you are able to remove me from that service? Cheers.
Excellent post. I will be going through a few of these issues as well..
hey there and thank you for your info – I’ve certainly picked up anything new from right here. I did however expertise a few technical issues using this web site, since I experienced to reload the web site lots of times previous to I could get it to load properly. I had been wondering if your hosting is OK? Not that I’m complaining, but sluggish loading instances times will very frequently affect your placement in google and can damage your quality score if ads and marketing with Adwords. Anyway I’m adding this RSS to my email and can look out for much more of your respective interesting content. Ensure that you update this again soon.|
Hey there! Do you know if they make any plugins to protect against hackers? I’m kinda paranoid about losing everything I’ve worked hard on. Any tips?
It’s awesome to pay a quick visit this web page and reading the views of all friends about this piece of writing, while I am also zealous of getting experience.|
Your style is so unique in comparison to other people I’ve read stuff from. Thank you for posting when you have the opportunity, Guess I will just book mark this blog.|
Hello just wanted to give you a quick heads up. The text in your post seem to be running off the screen in Firefox. I’m not sure if this is a format issue or something to do with web browser compatibility but I figured I’d post to let you know. The design and style look great though! Hope you get the problem solved soon. Kudos|
Cool stuff mate – you’ll love it there! Don’t forget to just ASK anyone in the community for help if you need it – it’s a great place to learn! 🙂
I just like the valuable info you supply in your articles. I will bookmark your weblog and test again right here regularly. I’m somewhat sure I’ll learn a lot of new stuff right here! Good luck for the next!|
I am really impressed together with your writing abilities and also with the layout on your weblog. Is that this a paid theme or did you modify it yourself? Anyway keep up the nice quality writing, it’s uncommon to see a great blog like this one nowadays..|