UPDATED: Emerging details of the tragic church shooting in Sutherland Springs, Texas are destroying the narrative of the gun prohibition lobby, from the background of the armed citizen who intervened to the reason the killer was able to purchase firearms at retail.
If this leads to the story quickly fading into the background, it will simply reinforce the opinion among many “middle Americans” that the press has a distinct bias against conservatives, gun owners and the National Rifle Association.
It is being widely reported that the “good guy with a gun” was Stephen Willeford, a former NRA-certified firearms instructor. Liberty Park Press confirmed this Tuesday morning with the NRA in Virginia.
Unlike the slovenly caricature of gun owners, and particularly NRA members, that the media and anti-gunners try to perpetuate, Willeford has shown himself in an interview to be a humble fellow, well-spoken and not afraid to admit he was afraid, but who rose to the occasion to protect his community.
The late John Wayne once observed that “Courage is being scared to death, but saddling up, anyway.”
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As reported earlier by Liberty Park Press: Willeford climbed into a pickup truck being driven by Johnnie Langendorff and the two chased Kelley down the highway for several miles. When Kelley’s car left the road, Willeford kept the vehicle covered until law enforcement arrived a few minutes later. Both men are being hailed as heroes.
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Authorities in Texas have reported that Willeford used an AR15-type rifle to shoot the killer outside of the First Baptist Church. Killer Devin Patrick Kelley was hit twice by rounds from Willeford’s rifle, once in the torso and once in the leg. That was when the killer dropped his own rifle and fled.
While there has been no official confirmation, it is possible that the torso wound was serious enough to quickly weaken the fleeing mass shooter, causing him to drive off the highway where he subsequently took his own life.
Monday found the Air Force confirming that Kelley’s conviction and jail time for domestic violence was not forwarded to the FBI’s National Instant Check System (NICS), so he was able to pass background checks when he purchased guns at retail. Kelley thus joins the ranks of other mass shooters who have passed federal background checks. Had his criminal records been forwarded to NICS, chances are he would not have passed the check.
The Air Force has launched an investigation.
Then there was Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton, who explained to both Fox News and MSNBC that pushing for more gun control laws would be superfluous.
Noting that, “there are laws against murder and this guy violated the laws against murder,” Paxton told MSNBC that, “I don’t want to create impediments to law abiding citizens having guns.”
“Like in this case,” he explained, “the people who potentially slowed this guy down from killing more people were two people who had guns and pursued this guy. I want to make sure that whatever we do doesn’t impede law abiding citizens from protecting themselves.”
“Adding some other gun law, I don’t think would change this guy’s behavior,” Paxton told Fox News.
It appears the one thing that did “change this guy’s behavior” was getting shot by a good man with a semi-automatic rifle; an armed private citizen who “saddled up, anyway” and confronted evil in his midst.
