Less than 48 hours after the atrocity at the church in Texas, we’ve seen a lot of “breaking news is broken news,” but some facts appear to have solidified.

  1. There is as yet no indication that anyone inside the church was armed and able to shoot back.
  2. There seem to be solid indications that the murderer picked his target because the family of his estranged wife worshipped there, and his grandmother-in-law was one of the victims. Please discuss with those in charge at your house of worship, creating a culture in which people being threatened by a psycho (as this family apparently was) share that information with church staff.  It comes under the heading of “warnings unheeded.”
  3. While the prohibitionists predictably scream for a ban on AR15 rifles because the murderer used one, they seem to be studiously ignoring the fact that the man who engaged the killer and stopped the murder toll ALSO USED AN AR15.
  4. While the prohibitionists demand background checks for private sales, we note that the killer bought his guns over the counter, AND PASSED THE BACKGROUND CHECKS. The USAF had apparently failed to feed into the criminal justice machine the fact that this man’s violent crimes in the past totally disqualified him from legally purchasing a firearm.
  5. We now learn that this walking piece of feces had spent a year in a military jail for fracturing a baby’s skull. He had terrorized his former wife with guns.  He should have been doing YEARS for Felony Aggravated Assault.  He obviously should not have been plea-bargained down to a Bad Conduct Discharge, instead of a Dishonorable Discharge which in and of itself would have prevented him from passing a background check.
  6. The prohibitionists are trying desperately to marginalize the accomplishment of the armed citizen who shot the murderer and made him drop his rifle, and who in the company of an equally courageous and probably UN-armed citizen driver, hounded the escaping killer to his final doom. Some of the prohibitionists were claiming that the murders were over anyway, so the armed citizen’s engagement didn’t matter.  The murdering piece of crap still had more guns and ammo on his person and in his SUV, and there is no reason to believe his rampage would not have continued without the heroic engagement of the killer by Stephen Willeford, 55, who apparently shot him with an AR15 and kept him covered until police arrived at the end of the chase, aided by Johnnie Langedorff, 27, at the wheel of the pursuing truck.   The killer reportedly called his father on cell phone to tell him he was shot and thought he was going to die, during that pursuit…after that, tell me again that Citizen Willeford didn’t neutralize him!
  7. The opinionated TV providers who now pass as news channels seem totally unaware of their own hypocrisy and hopefully unintentional complicity in mass murders. They give the pathetic punk who perpetrated this massacre 24/7 news. When disaffected losers like this perpetrator see the same happen to, oh, the Las Vegas mass murderer barely a month before, they see the operative part of “infamous” as “famous.”  It’s an invitation to them to get national and worldwide attention via the slaughter of the helpless innocent.  Yet the media continues to give them far more than Andy Warhol’s famous description, “fifteen minutes of fame.”
  8. Texas Attorney General Paxton has stated publicly since the atrocity, according to thetruthaboutguns.com, “’Texans can help prevent mass shootings by carrying concealed guns, Attorney General Ken Paxton said Sunday, hours after 26 people were killed in a church in Sutherland Springs,’  mercurynews.com reports. ‘This is going to happen again. All I can say is in Texas at least we have the opportunity to have conceal carry. And so — there’s always the opportunity that gunman will be taken out before he has the opportunity to kill very many people.’” (http://www.thetruthaboutguns.com/2017/11/robert-farago/texas-attorney-general-paxton-guns-less-death-video/).

 

In my opinion, Attorney General Paxton nailed it.  I wish Mr. Willeford had been inside the church with a pistol instead of at his nearby home when the cowardly exemplar of evil walked into the church and brought his wrongfully-possessed gun to bear.

More facts will come to light. I will have more to say about this here. In the meantime, I would like to hear what YOU have to say about it.

115 COMMENTS

  1. I’m surprised churches haven’t been removed from the list of prohibited locations for carrying in Texas yet.

    • For those who commented on church carry being disallowed in Texas, this is incorrect.
      In 1997, two years after the CHL went into effect, the Legislature cleaned up the law removing churches (among other locales) from the prohibited list. This led to the creation of what is commonly called the “30.06” section of the Texas Penal Code. A church must give “effective notice” which is the commonly posted “30.06” signage.

      • Trey: You are mostly correct except that the CHL law was PASSED in 1995 and WENT INTO EFFECT in 1996. The church ban was removed 2 years later in 1998. Now, no sign = OK to carry.

  5. As I understand it, the murderer was wearing a Kevlar vest. If that’s the case I can only agree with your wish that Mr. Willeford had been inside the church with a pistol with the caveat that my wish also includes Mr. Willeford successfully rendering the murderer incapable of continued waste of oxygen with a head shot without becoming a (heroic) victim himself.
    We all need to practice more because I think head shots are the new normal.

  6. I remember an episode of ‘The Lone Ranger’ where he directs Tonto to also leave his weapons outside the door of a parish they are about to enter. As he too set down his silvered Colts, he said, “This is a house of God. Weapons don’t belong here.”

    Neither does evil, but that doesn’t equate to lesser odds than anywhere else of the enemy intruding on peaceful lives. I’ve disregarded the Ranger’s advice all my adult life.

  7. Mas, law enforcement briefing today said killer fired 15 AR-15 magazines, likely over four hundred rounds at the church site. Fifteen magazine changes? How long did that take? Imagine what went through the minds of the victims as he fired on them… What a sad example of “when seconds count, police are only minutes away. To me a clear case for concealed carry by congregation members before another unbalanced individual decides to lethally act out on the innocent. Even worse, if ISIS decides to strike churches next?

  10. Just for anyone’s info, in Texas, you have to have permisdion to carry concealed in a church. Most don’t grant that permission.

  11. No law past, present, or future is capable of halting bad behavior. No ban will ever rid the world of a thing. Be aware and prepared.

  12. Mas, your MAG40 student from Howell. Your blog is always a good read, unfortunately; the Sutherland, TX event has driven to write this first post. I agree with your assessment and coincidentally, just I told my wife about #7. Why are MSM giving deranged killers the “fame and glory” of their actions to (maybe unintentionally) only radicalize the next candidate who decide the only way out of their sorry life, is to commit the next hideous mass murder crime. Which then motivates 24/7 media to begin its vicious cycle for whatever reasons (e.g. ratings, public service, etc.) In this age of instant and persistent news, more “soon to be” mentally ill individuals will (not may) decide to take everyone down with him/her due to a recent negative event that predictably tipped his/her already delicate mental balance.

    I know it is a cliché to hear and say the “only” to protect the “bad people” with guns is to protect ourselves with more guns. It is inevitable that guns will always be present in our society coupled with the lack of understanding what the 2nd Amendment means, it is wrong for people to nit-pick the Constitution / Bills of Rights. Example – it is the NFL teams’ 1st Amendment right to express their societal issues during the National Anthem (which I vehemently disagree as my family and I even stand proudly at home during the National Anthem when watching sporting events); but I respect the 1st Amendment exists so that people have that freedom. But they can’t stop me from disagreeing with such display of disrespect especially when many have died for what this great nation stands for.

    Obvious hypocrisy exists from the prohibitionists when they don’t understand, or worse, minimize the 2nd Amendment that has now ingrained within our culture. One can’t have the love and voluminous vocal support of the 1st Amendment without having the same tenacity for the 2nd to 27th Amendments to our Constitution.

    As Sutherland and the rest of the country mourns, I think it is important to allow both sides to continue with the conversations which I see as part of the grieving process. However, we must sometimes wonder with 24/7 “in your face” news coverage, does it unintentionally, create the next monster looking for their “15 mins of fame”?

    As always, stay safe Mas (and Gail) and always in condition yellow. LOL – yes, you taught me well.

  13. You are 100% correct. The gentlemen that ended this POS are heroes as well as people like you who speak the truth to fight against the lefties. Bring your classes to Tennessee please.

  14. Mas – There are some reports that this criminal was wearing soft body armor during his rampage. Do you know if this is true or not?

    If it is true, then concealed carry pistols, inside the Church, might not have stopped him unless a head shot could be employed. Still, return pistol fire might have forced the killer to break off his attack and retreat back outside the Church even if it did not disable him.

    Perhaps a rifle, like an AR or bolt action deer rifle, would be required to truly stop him if he was armored?

  15. I was sick when I heard them say “HE STOPPED TO RELOAD”…..What better time to produce your own firearm & neutralize the threat….. one & all.
    24/7/365….may keep you or others alive.

  16. All the more reason for Christians to stop putting their head in the sand and thinking God will protect us. We live in a world of sin so evil controls this world. We need to get armed and get TRAINED. Without the right training a gun in the hands of a person who does not know how to use it properly can be just as dangerous as the bad guy.

    • Patrick Spoonhour,

      I agree. I know several Christians who believe God will protect them from this kind of evil. Actually, God does seem to protect American Christians, but not those in the Middle East. Also, 10 million people died in the Holocaust. Weren’t some of them Christians? Of course they were. We know Christians are persecuted in places like North Korea, China and Africa. We need to wake up and realize that the USA is a bubble of good times and easy living, compared to the rest of the world. Our safety is an illusion, and reality can slap us in the face at any time.

      I’m sure Satan would love to get his hands on American Christians. Looks like he’s trying to do that now.

      • “I know several Christians who believe God will **PROTECT** them from this kind of evil”.

        Spiritual Protection — Absolutely
        Physical Protection — Maybe Not

        (that is why Christians must be willing to consider taking some responsibility for their own personal defense)

      • Anonymous,

        Thanks. I am now reminded of the amount of physical protection God gave to the Old Testament prophets, and to the Apostle Paul. Not much. And then there is the worst example, John the Baptist. Yikes!! He had to endure a Middle Eastern prison, and then got his head chopped off during the time Christ was doing miracles for others. His work on earth was done, but still, he didn’t have a comfortable life like most of us Americans.

  17. Mas,
    I am a shooter, an FFL holder, and absolutely bewildered. I cannot seem to understand how it is that we have (what should be) effective laws on the books that would prevent a person with the POS’ history from purchasing a firearm from a dealer. I am bewildered that the US Air Force did document his atrocities upon his discharge.
    The antis want more laws or a total ban on firearms. We already know that the existing laws do not work. We also know that a prohibition on firearms will not work any better than a ban on alcohol, marijuana, or hard drugs has worked in the past, but will only create another black market for those that do not care about the law.
    Enforce the laws that we have on the books, allow cross state concealed carry permits, and prosecute with extreme prejudice those who willingly violate the law or assault those who are weaker than them or dependent on them.
    I am going to go back to being bewildered again.
    Steve

  18. Thanks Mas, as an LFI graduate, I wholeheartedly agree. Hardly a day goes by that I don’t recall some of your “colorful” words of wisdom (lol).

  19. Great thoughts on the atrocity, Mas. I am looking forward to reading your continued analysis.

    One thing that I thought of is that it appears that the murderer may have been wearing body armor and a helmet. This would make it more challenging, but still possible with proper aiming and skill, to respond effectively with a handgun.

    The armed citizen hero, Stephen Willeford, gave an interview that is posted on YouTube. I found it very interesting to listen to this interview. Among the things he mentioned is (paraphrased) is that he believes God gave him the presence of mind to act as he did. Here is the link:
    https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=B4HEchh0XD8

    Embedded so it doesn’t get overlooked. EP

    • I just want to hug this guy and tell him that I’m glad he was there, and I’m so thankful he’s ok. He’s a beautiful human.

  20. Back in 1995 an attorney friend of mine called me at 8:00 one Sunday morning and told me he would be by to get me because we were attending Church services that morning at a small congregation of about 75 not far from where we lived. He said to bring my 9mm Model 59 and a couple of extra magazines. Turns out the minister at that small congregation, who was a good friend of outs, had called and asked for help defending a female member of the congregation from her husband whom she was in the process of divorcing. So my buddy and I got there and sat in the back. He had a .357 mag revolver in his Bible cover, I had my 9mm and our preacher buddy had a .38 special in his boot. We had on our suits and sunglasses on the back row when the tango walked in and sat down in the pew behind his wife. Everyone was watching him and us and he sensed us and turned to see us. He sat there a couple of minutes and then got up and left. He had told several members of the community that he was going to take her home, whether she agreed or not and he was coming to Church armed. My buddy and I followed him outside and stood on the porch watching him drive off to the convenience store across the street where he got out of his truck and we had a staring contest. He finally left and all was well. This all happened in rural Oklahoma where we all carried one way or another. You can never be sure that all is well unless you are prepared.

    • Bruce, that’s great news to hear. Now, if you spoken of this story to a reporter handling this current shooting, nothing, would be mentioned of it. Technical difficulties, with the camera, or sound would come about. I would to share your story.

    • Bruce,

      That true story was more dramatic than any movie I’ve seen. Scary stuff. Lots of tense moments.

  21. Great points. A good man with a gun stopped evil.

    Mr. Stephen Willeford: Thank You!
    Mr. Johnnie Langedorff: Thank You!

    Thanks for getting involved and doing what needed to be done.

  22. Spot on Mas. My first thought was, “If only someone in the church had been armed.” Most churches are off-limits for carrying. This makes them prime hunting grounds for deranged psychos like this guy. I recall several years ago when there was a shooting at Azana salon in Brookfield, Wisconsin: One of the news stations showed the front door of the salon with a prominent no-guns decal on the door. I guess the shooter didn’t notice the sign.

  23. Excellent summary and analysis.
    Real wake up call for those of us with carry permits. Need to re-examine my mindset regards when and how often I choose to carry, as well as those public places which do not allow folks to exrcise their concealed carry rights, including some churches, doctor offices, etc.

  24. First, it hit pretty close to home. When it happened I was in the choir loft of my own church, only about a hundred miles up the highway.

    OTOH, my Glock was under my robe, and I’m pretty sure several of my students in the congregation were similarly equipped.

    OTOOH, about an hour earlier that morning, on my way into Sunday School, I encountered one of our small-town’s flakier residents, who has a reputation for starting conflicts. He was hanging around the Education Building, but he appeared rational and unarmed. He went into one of the adult classes, so I didn’t think it was necessary for me to report him to church leadership. Shame on me.

  25. I am so mad that the proper steps weren’t taken that would have kept this monster from legally buying firearms. I’m so sick of liberals trying to take away our power to protect ourselves against sick people like this guy.

  26. Well, thank you again, Mas. I never new about the type of rifle that was used to stop this shooter. I’m so sick, of the media going after AR-15 rifles, or any weapon that can be used to protect a family or the public. These mass shooters are criminals. Plain as day. We need to be able to protect our selfs.

  27. I live about 70 miles north of Sutherland Springs. Understand this:
    Texans take care of business.

    God Bless the people of Sutherland Springs. And God Bless Texas.

  28. These shootings didn’t happen until the democrat party destroyed poor families with welfare, took God out of schools and the public, and eroded our culture in countless other ways. Furthermore, they have pitted classes and demographic groups against each other for political gain, which has ginned up hatred between fellow Americans. Now they criticize these events as though their constant divisiveness has had no contribution to this behavior.

  29. You’ve said it all, eloquently as usual. And reporters have demonstrated that they have as muck knowledge about the military and the military judicial system as they do about guns.

  30. Sir, I feel for the families and express my condolences. It’s seems now almost everyday now we hear of a shooting massacre. If you are not safe in a house of worship, where are you safe. But not just in Gods house, it’s in our schools, our baseball, football, malls. People! It’s time to protect yourself and your family. YOU are your first responder.

  33. Thank God for Mr. Willeford. His courage and his willingness to act. I pray that he will not suffer remorse or doubts that he did the right thing. I also praise that young Texan who stepped-up and gave chase, at much risk to himself. Our church started a Safety and Security team almost two years ago, out of concerns for these types of “evil” acts. It seems to be a sad truth of the times we’re living in that such measures are necessary. Even The Good Shepherd can use a few Sheepdogs to help protect the flock.

  34. You can not predict where or when these acts of madness will occur.
    If you are armed and trained properly you may be able to “Stop the Threat”.
    This assumes you are not in a gun free zone.

  35. I wish someone had been armed in the church before the murderer came in. Unfortunately Texas Las forbid the carrying of arms in a house of worship. This is another slaughter in a gun free zone.

    • No, sir. A church must exhibit a 30-06 sign in order to prohibit carry of concealed handgun. Please read the law.

    • FYI, Texas law ONLY forbids carrying in a place of worship IF 30.06 signage is properly displayed at every entrance. I am a pastor in Texas and am constantly armed.

      • Churches do not display 30.06 or 30.07. Only designated places can.
        While churches are no carry places, pastors can exempt that and allow anyone to carry in their church. Also recent Texas legislation allows appointed armed personnel in churches.

      • Let me qualify a possibly confusing statement I made in previous post. Churches ARE NOT REQUIRED to post 30.06 or 30.07 signs because the penal code is specific as to who can post these signs. And because no carry in a place of worship is included in the code, as is hospitals, polling places, etc.
        In fact, penal code is specific as to who can or must post these signs.
        As previously stated, permission by the governing body/pastor of a church to carry is permissable. And there have been court decisions as to who can, and cannot, post these. In other words, you can’t just nail up a sign cause you don’t like guns.

    • Texas law does NOT prohibit the carrying of arms in churches. In Texas, there are 2 methods of prohibiting weapons at a church (or other private entity):1)30.06/30.07 signage, which addresses both concealed and open carry and requires very specific wording and sizing,posted at entrances, or 2)individual notification “by a person (in authority)”. I do not have the data to verify, but I doubt that more than a handful of churches have taken such a stance. In Texas, there are very few places/entities that are statutorily off-limits for handguns.

  36. A good, moral, ethical human being who, by circumstance was placed in the position of either being a witness or a savior. He did not hesitate. As he stated “every shot I heard represented a life”. He grabbed up his weapon, not taking time to even put on his shoes, and ran towards the gunfire. He engaged the shooter. He hit what he aimed at. When the bad guy fled, he flagged down a motorist who after being quickly appraised of the situation, also didn’t hesitate to join the fray.

    As this pair of citizens pursued the evil doer, they contacted law enforcement, informing them of their ongoing actions, eventually observing him losing control of his vehicle and coming to rest. The armed citizen took a position of cover behind the pursuit vehicle and stood ready to engage the shooter again if necessary, only standing down when law enforcement arrived.

    We live in a free country. As President Reagan once said, “A shining beacon on the hill”. One of those freedoms is enshrined in the Second Amendment. With freedom comes responsibility. Freedom can be used for either good or for evil. Good must confront evil if we are to remain a free people. The Second Amendment gives the common man the tools he needs to retain that freedom. The actions of these good people should be recognized.

    Therefore Mr. President, I, just another citizen of this great bastion of freedom, implore you to use your privilege to bestow the “Presidential Medal of Freedom” to both Stephen Willeford and Johnnie Langendorff. Their actions that day epitomizes a free citizenry. While neither see themselves as heroes, they represent the hundreds, if not thousands each year who, without fanfare or notoriety, protect themselves, their families and others because of our guarantees of that freedom.

  37. At our Church we always have a police officer keeping watch. We also have what we call risk management. Also we have officers who attend our Church.

    • I am so saddened by some people’s behavior & how some1 can have such a disregard 4 another human being. It seems 2 b the norm. I am elated Stephen Willeford stepped up putting his own life in JEPORDY. IF THERE IS A SILVER LINING IN THIS IT MAY BE this POS WONT PUT THE COMMUNITY THROUGH A MILLION DOLLOR TRIAL & THE $50,000 (PER YEAR) INCARSERATION COST

  38. It is very important that Churches NOT post a UNIFORMED armed guard outside.
    He would just be summary shot. It is best to have an armed Usher or two dressed as everybody else. Then post a tasteful sign that can’t be missed at the entrance to the parking lot. “ARMED CITIZENS IN ATTENDANCE AT ALL TIMES”

    We hope President Trump’s people will be in contact with you Mas.
    I want to see your pic in the Oval Office.

  39. When your life is on the line (as it is every day), and it’s prohibited to carry concealed in a house of worship, what’s the harm in carrying concealed? Keep it concealed and all is well. Hopefully you won’t need it. I’m not one to break the law but what’s the risk vs reward in this case?

  40. A recent visit to my home of East Texas revealed way too many of those 30-06 Signs. It makes concealed carry a huge challenge. You want this to improve? Stop with the gun free zones. It only works on the law abiding who are not a threat. A murderous heart doesn’t give a Damn about your signs or restrictions or consequences. He’s going to kill those who chose to obey the idiotic laws and left their guns in their cars or homes. Please use your common sense. At a minimum, take away the risk of prosecution if one chooses to carry in that restaurant. The worst they should deal with is being asked to leave if someone notices their gun and complains. I would hope if they have to pull it out to protect themselves or others in that gun free zone that they wouldn’t be punished for it later but who knows. Common sense is sketchy these days.

  41. I live in San Antonio, which is only about 30 miles from Sutherland Springs. All of our local news stations have been in Sutherland Springs since shortly after this horrific massacre. We seem to be getting much more in depth and unbiased information than is on the national and cable news programs. Before Kelley entered the church, he shot two men outside of the church, so I don’t know why anyone would think that if he had not been engaged by a neighbor with a gun, that he wouldn’t have continued his killing spree when he left the church. Kelley was wearing a Kevlar vest, but it only protected his chest and not his back. Sadly, the Air Force did not follow protocol and report Kelly’s court-martial to the FBI, thus allowing Kelley to purchase 4 guns. Since Kelley was mentally unstable and his killing spree stemmed from a domestic dispute, more than likely he would’ve found some way to carry out this evil deed, even if he didn’t have guns. Also, I don’t know about elsewhere, but in this part of Texas, it is becoming more and more common for church staff and parishioners to be armed. Please keep the people of Sutherland Springs and the surrounding communities in your thoughts and prayers as healing begins. If you want to help, cash donations that will go to the families for medical bills and other expenses are needed, but be careful because bogus Go Fund Me pages have already been established by heartless scumbags, but many others have stepped up, like a casket maker that is donating caskets to the families of the deceased.

    • Those who “think” he ‘would not have continued with his killing spree’ are so very delusional, as in unicorns and rainbows << so sad that our society has been reduced to such mindlessness, and that our media has become so narrow minded.
      There really are good people still left in this world, such as those who are donating, especially the casket maker. We need more people like this, to stand up and "take a stand" nowadays.
      My thoughts and prayers are with you, your community, in the days that follow.

  42. It’s not illegal by our state law but The insurance company says we cannotcarru conceakef in our house of worship. We are in the country,minimum 20 minutes fron law enforcement. Our leaders say that if it’s concealed properly nobody knows if anyone is carrying, so if you do, just don’t tell them. (There are several that are carrying at every service that I know of,probably more that I don’t kniw of ). We should have the right to protect ourselves anywhere.

  44. Mas, Mr. Willeford may not consider himself a hero, but I have never talked to anyone who’s done something heroic who thought they were either. Further, I may be reading into this something that isn’t there, but it seemed like he may be having, or is susceptible to, something akin to Survivor’s Guilt” when he talked about wishing he had been able to intervene sooner. Hope not, he certainly has nothing to feel guilty about, he did as good as anyone in his circumstances could.

    Trey – thanks for the clarification. As in many cases, people seem to run with what they think or what someone else says, not what the facts are. I have lost count of the number of talking heads and commenters on various posts who have said that the shooter was prohibited from buying firearms due to his ‘dishonorable’ discharge. In fact, as Mas states, he was given a bad conduct discharge, which is not in and of itself disqualifying from future firearms purchases or possession.

  45. I carry in church and have for a while. A brother deacon is a policeman and he always carries and sits towards front left near a pillar. My wife and I will be changing where we sit so we will be near a pillar on the right side.

    Starting September 1st in Texas is is now legal for churches to have Volunteer Security.

    I would encourage all churches in Texas to have Security and plans for an Active shooter situation.

    As all of my police friends have told me all Active Shooters are cowards. The go where they believe there are no guns.

    Stay Safe!!

    • I applaud you, sir! I live in Columbia, South Carolina; had citizens/church members of the Charleston church massacre been armed a couple years ago, all could/would have been very different. Be blessed, in His name…His righteousness will cover you.

  46. I live in Nebraska. Nebraska does not let you carry in church, unless, the church leadership approve it in advance, and PUBLISH your name, to all members (ie in the church bulletin). I have been a life time member of the LCMS, but have stopped attending church in Nebraska. On occasion my wife and I will drive in to Iowa for church. Iowa does not prohibit carry in church. It is very sad. I also would like to mention that I attended a training class with Mas in Lincoln, Nebraska a few years ago (Self defense legal issues). Great class.

  47. Another failure of the system that should have prevented the gunman from legally purchasing firearms was that he was in a mental health facility (and escaped) while he was in the USAF. He had threatened the lives of his chain of command and had in fact smuggled firearms onto the airbase.

    The USAF apparently failed miserably in reporting this info about the would-be murderer to the FBI. Moreover, would it not also fall to the mental health facility to report this info?

    Clearly, more laws are not the solution … just enforce what is on the books.

    • All the USAF’s blunder did was let him buy from an FFL. Otherwise, he could just check the “Guns for Sale” part in the newspaper classified ads and buy from anyone with a gun for sale. In any of the free states, anyway. Of which Texas and all of its adjacent states are.

      Like the “waiting period” laws in some places, the NICS is a paper tiger. Though an awful lot of people seem to think you can only buy a gun at a gun store.

  48. In conversation with some writing colleagues who are decidedly left of my beliefs, their complaint about the Good Samaritans was that they supposedly put people at risk by chasing the goblin.

    Oh, and they point out that because the Good Sam shot him as he was leaving the church, that he didn’t really “stop” the crime. :rolleyes:

    When a state makes a church gun-free by default, why isn’t that a church-state separation issue? WHy should the state be able to do that?

    • The separation of church and state prevents the state from establishing an official or state recognized religion. It does not keep the state from imposing certain regulations on religious organizations

  49. Mas, I just sent a copy of my comment to President Trump as an electronic letter, using the link below.

    https://www.whitehouse.gov/contact/#page

    I encourage folks with like sentiments to send their own letter of nomination. If successful (probably wishful thinking), think of the powerful statement that would make as to the true intent of the Second Amendment. It would cause a meltdown of the liberal/progressives, but who better than Trump to light that fire.

  50. All establishments which choose to prohibit guns should be licensed and required to obtain a permit to post the necessary signage. As part of licensure, the proprietors should be trained and obligated to provide equivalent security.

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