TEXAS ATTORNEY GENERAL: “I WOULD RATHER ARM LAW ABIDING CITIZENS” THAN PASS GUN CONTROL LAWS
republished below in full unedited for informational, educational, and research purposes:
It would be more practical to arm law-abiding citizens than
pass additional gun control laws, Texas’ attorney general said Monday.
Speaking to Fox News’ Brian Kilmeade regarding the devastating
massacre of dozens of parishioners inside a Baptist church in Texas,
Attorney General Ken Paxton rejected the left’s natural inclination to
demonize firearms in the wake of the tragedy.
“There are laws against murder, and this guy violated the laws
against murder,” Paxton stated. “So adding some other gun law would not,
I don’t think, in any way change this guy’s behavior.”
On Sunday 26-year-old Devin Kelley opened fire on a First Baptist
Church in Sutherland Springs, Texas, just southeast of San Antonio,
leaving 26 dead and 20 injured.
Kelley had been court martialed in 2012 for abusing his wife and child,
and was dishonorably discharged in 2014, which should have stopped him
from being able to purchase firearms under current laws.
“It’s not clear to me that he wasn’t already prevented from having a
gun, given his history in the military,” Paxton told Kilmeade, adding
that an armed citizen had confronted the shooter and was likely
responsible for preventing further carnage.
“What ultimately may have saved some lives is two people that were
outside the church that actually had guns that may have slowed this guy
down and actually pursued him,” noted Paxton.
The attorney general also asserted an armed citizenry would have a better effect on deterring criminals.
He added: “I would rather arm law-abiding citizens and make sure that
they can prevent this from happening as opposed to trying to pass laws
that would prevent law-abiding citizens from having guns.”
In an interview with Fox on Sunday, Paxton also defended gun rights as vital to preventing further bloodshed:
“As far as what we can do in the future, I mean, the only thing I
know – because you can’t necessarily keep guns out of the hands of
people who are going to violate the law – all I can say is that in Texas
at least we have the opportunity to have concealed carry. And so if
it’s a place where somebody has the ability to carry, there’s always the
opportunity that gunman will be taken out before he has the opportunity
to kill very many people.”
Texas Governor Greg Abbott in May passed a bill reducing the cost of a
concealed carry license from $140 to $40, while also cutting down
license renewal fees.
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