Something happened today that rarely happens on CNN: a guest was allowed to make a conservative argument defending good guys with guns. Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton appeared on CNN Newsroom Sunday evening to comment on the church shooting that happened this morning near Fort Worth Texas, and he was amazingly allowed to argue against the left’s gun control agenda without being cut off or shut down.
Fill-in CNN anchor Jessica Dean first shared the disturbing live stream video from this morning’s shooting at West Freeway Church of Christ showing an armed intruder interrupting the church service and shooting two people before two armed parishioners stopped him and killed him before he could murder anymore of the 200+ people present.
Paxton praised the “heroic efforts” of the church members before arguing how important it was for citizens to be able to defend themselves:
What I will say is they were heroic efforts. And I have been saying this for years. We need to make sure that people with protect themselves. Oftentimes law enforcement can't react quickly. They can't be there in seconds when the shooters are suddenly shooting. And so it really is a remarkable thing the people reacted so quickly. And saved the lives of the other 239 people in the congregation.
After this, the CNN anchor gushed about gun violence and subtly tried to push for gun control:
I feel we have these conversations over and over again, sadly in this country. What can be done to curb this kind of violence? How do we stop gun violence in the country? What else can be done? You mention there have been other horrific shootings in Texas in this year alone. What can we do to protect people?
But Paxton pointed out that the red state’s laws protecting armed citizens was exactly why this shooter was stopped in his tracks:
But the reality is I think our laws in Texas allow, allow us to protect ourselves. So more people need to carry in our state in our churches, places of business so that if something like this horrible thing does happen, at least we have people that can react and save the lives of those around him.
As Dean wrapped up the interview, she asked Paxton to share a message to the Jewish community in New York and the churchgoers in this Texas community who may be afraid to attend their religious services now.
The Attorney General again was allowed to forcefully argue for the 2nd Amendment, by pointing out the obvious point liberals and the media seem to miss consistently: someone who wants to kill will not obey gun laws:
I do know there's always discussion about imposing more gun restrictions. The reality is somebody like this is willing to kill somebody, is unlikely to follow a gun law. So we need to continue to be vigilant and we need to allow our citizens to protect themselves. Exactly what happened today and I'm so grateful for the quick reaction because what happened in other churches about a year ago, in other places around my state, when people were not armed, we had a lot more people die.
Read the transcript below:
CNN Newsroom with Ana Cabrera
12/29/2019
JESSICA DEAN: It sends a shiver down your spine. We learned from local authorities and we see in that video as you mention there were heroes inside the church. Members who returned fire. Took down the gunman. Have you been able to speak to them at all? And if so can you share anything?
KEN PAXTON, TEXAS AG: My hope is I'll get that opportunity tomorrow. Trying to basically let these families as much as possible recover. What I will say is they were heroic efforts. And I have been saying this for years. We need to make sure that people with protect themselves. Oftentimes law enforcement can't react quickly. They can't be there in seconds when the shooters are suddenly shooting. And so it really is a remarkable thing the people reacted so quickly. And saved the lives of the other 239 people in the congregation.
DEAN: They did move very fast there. What else Mr. Attorney General, do you think can be done? I feel we have these conversations over and over again, sadly in this country. What can be done to curb this kind of violence? How do we stop gun violence in the country? What else can be done? You mention there have been other horrific shootings in Texas in this year alone. What can we do to protect people?
PAXTON: Well, we can't stop this from happening in all cases. There's just no way to predict what every person in our state will do. I think focus on mental illness is obviously something we need to be mindful of. But the reality is I think our laws in Texas allow, allow us to protect ourselves. So more people need to carry in our state in our churches, places of business so that if something like this horrible thing does happen, at least we have people that can react and save the lives of those around him.
DEAN: We don't know the details yet of how this gunman got a hold of his gun. His state of mind. That is information that will come out in the days to come. In the meantime, what message do you want to send tonight to the people there in White Settlement and people who are going to worship like the people in New York. The Jewish community in New York, who may be afraid right now, of people in Texas who may be afraid to go to church?
PAXTON: I do know there's always discussion about imposing more gun restrictions. The reality is somebody like this is willing to kill somebody, is unlikely to follow a gun law. So we need to continue to be vigilant and we need to allow our citizens to protect themselves. Exactly what happened today and I'm so grateful for the quick reaction because what happened in other churches about a year ago, in other places around my state, when people were not armed, we had a lot more people die. And so I'm really grateful tonight that we did lose one person and we had others injured. But we had such a quick reaction and I'm really grateful for the heroes that were in the church.
