By: DJ Parten

This past Sunday morning at West Freeway Church of Christ in White Settlement, Texas, Jack Wilson drew his gun and fired a single shot, striking Keith Thomas Kinnunen and killing him.

Kinnunen, a frequent benefactor of the church’s charity and a man with a lengthy criminal record, attended that morning’s worship service wearing a disguise and armed with a shotgun concealed on his person.

When Kinnunen pulled his gun and fatally shot two people, members of the church’s volunteer security team quickly responded.

Concealed Nation reports at least five people in attendance drew firearms to stop the attack; however, Wilson was the only one to fire a shot.

Carrying a firearm in churches has been legal in Texas since 1997, but language clarifying that churches may organize volunteer security teams went into effect in 2017.

Sunday’s hero, Jack Wilson, posted on Facebook:

"I’m thankful to GOD that I have been blessed with the ability and desire to serve him in the role of head of security at the church. I am very sad in the loss of two dear friends and brothers in CHRIST, but evil does exist in this world and I and other members are not going to allow evil to succeed. Please pray for all the members and their families in this time. Thank you for your prayers and understanding."

This incident is a clear demonstration of how armed citizens make everyone safer, though some radical anti-gun politicians disagree.

Failed presidential candidate Beto O’Rourke said, “Clearly what we are doing in Texas, what we are doing in this country, when it comes to guns is not working.”

Beto must have missed the part about the shooter being stopped in mere seconds.

Pro-Second Amendment organization Texas Gun Rights (TXGR) sent an email slamming gun-free zones and calling for pro-gun policies like Constitutional Carry.

“Instead of ramming more deadly gun controls down our throats, politicians should pass life-saving policies like Constitutional Carry — allowing more law-abiding Texans to be their own first line of defense,” said TXGR Executive Director Chris McNutt.

A group of conservative Texas lawmakers has fought to pass Constitutional Carry for years, but they face significant opposition in powerful Republicans like Lt. Governor Dan Patrick who betrayed the Second Amendment and came out in support of gun control this summer.

Following the attack in Odessa, Texas, NRA-endorsed Dan Patrick expressed his support for so-called Universal Background Checks, which is just political speak for universal firearm registration.

Exploiting tragedies to push misguided anti-gun agendas has long been a tactic of the Left, and weak-kneed Republicans like Patrick continue to give in to these inane talking points.

Republican politicians like Dan Patrick must be exposed and held accountable for their anti-gun actions if Texans expect to advance life-saving, pro-gun legislation like Constitutional Carry that allows even more people like Jack Wilson to defend themselves and others.

The Constitutional Carry bill will not be considered again until the next legislative session in 2021.

D.J. Parten is the Executive Director of Florida Gun Rights and the Southeast Regional Director for the National Association for Gun Rights.

Photo of Jack Wilson courtesy of Facebook.