Texas Church Shooting: How Newly-Implemented Gun Law Helped Save Lives

A new case of shooting in Texas happened on Sunday morning, Dec. 29. The attack took place while a worship service was being streamed on YouTube and two people were initially confirmed dead and one of them was the attacker.

Footage of the incident showed a man at the back of the church firing at two churchgoers. When he tried to direct his gun to the crowd while they were receiving communion, two members of the volunteer security team acted swiftly and fired back at the assailant who immediately dropped down the floor.

“The heroism today is unparalleled,” Texas Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick told USA Today. “This team responded quickly and within six seconds, the shooting was over. Two of the parishioners who were volunteers of the security force drew their weapons and took out the killer immediately, saving untold number of lives.”

The attack happened at the West Freeway Church of Christ in White Settlement near Fort Worth, Texas. A third person is also said to have been brought to the hospital and in critical condition but sadly, MedStar spokeswoman Macara Trusty said that this victim who was resuscitated earlier has died later as well.

The identities of the victims and the gunman have not been released yet. The motive for the shooting is also unknown as the police continue to investigate the crime scene. Police officials pointed out that the shotting could have been more tragic if the armed church security guards did not act fast.

“It was the scariest thing,” CBS Local quoted churchgoer Isabel Arreola as saying. “You feel like your life is flashing before you. I was so worried about my little one.”

The church’s senior minister, Britt Farmer, expressed sadness over the attack. He also thanked the government for the gun law that allowed them to be armed in the church. “We lost two great men today, but it could have been a lot worse and I am thankful our government has allowed us the opportunity to protect ourselves,” the church minister said.

Farmer was referring to the new firearm laws that were implemented in September. Due to the growing number of mass shootings and the frequency that is happening in Texas, the officials decided to further loosen gun restrictions in this state where four of the 10 deadliest mass shootings have been recorded. The new rules were passed during the 2019 legislative session that concluded in June.

One of the measures in the series of laws states that handgun owners are allowed to carry loaded weapons in churches around Texas, provided that the church has no signs that ban weapons. As shared by CNN, this gun law has been named Senate Bill 535.

"We have learned many times over that there is no such thing as a gun-free zone,” co-sponsor of the bill, Sen. Donna Campbell, said in a statement after the rule was implemented. “Those with evil intentions will violate the law and carry out their heinous acts no matter what. It makes no sense to disarm the good guys and leave law-abiding citizens defenseless where violent offenders break the law to do great harm."