Republicans praise gun laws they say thwarted church shooter; Democrats again call for gun control

Approved ~~ MJM

WASHINGTON — Following another deadly shooting on Sunday, Texas Republicans praised members of a church security team who stopped a gunman, citing state laws allowing weapons in houses of worship. Meanwhile, Democrats repeated their call for more restrictive gun laws that they say would prevent shootings.

Politicians weighed in on the Sunday morning shooting at West Freeway Church of Christ in the Fort Worth suburb of White Settlement, where a gunman killed two churchgoers before being shot and killed in the sanctuary.

At a Sunday evening press conference in White Settlement, Republican Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick credited laws passed by the Texas legislature for allowing churchgoers to carry weapons and have a trained security team.

“The immediate responder is the most important; the citizen responder,” Patrick said. “Because even though the chief’s brave officers were here in less than a minute … by the time they got here, the shooting was over. And that always happens, that over 50 percent of shootings, our first responders, it’s usually over when they get there, no matter how hard they try.”

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Article URL: https://www.dallasnews.com/news/politics/2019/12/30/republicans-praise-gun-laws-they-say-thwarted-church-shooter-democrats-again-call-for-gun-control/