Pastor Britt Farmer lost his best friend on Sunday in a shoot-out in his own church.
Two of Farmer’s parishioners, one of whom he described as his best friend, were gunned down by a crazed, shotgun-toting man whom Farmer had met – and helped – before. “I had seen him. I had visited with him. I had given him food. I had offered him food at other occasions that he had been to our building.”
On Sunday at the West Freeway Church of Christ, there was heroism, bloodshed, sadness, and relief that the crazy man with the gun didn’t get off more rounds and kill more people.
And there was gratitude. Gratitude that there was an expert shooter who dropped the bad guy with one shot from across the room. Gratitude that the Christians gunned down knew where they were going when they left this earth.
But there was one thing for which the pastor gave thanks that left a lot of people asking, “What did he just say?”
West Freeway Church of Christ Senior Minister Britt Farmer: "I’m thankful our government has allowed us the opportunity to protect ourselves" pic.twitter.com/5fLSnSjQzg
— Tom Elliott (@tomselliott) December 30, 2019
Farmer said, “I’m thankful our government has allowed us the opportunity to protect ourselves.”
After the church shooting in Sutherland Springs, Texas, two years ago, Texas lawmakers passed a law “allowing” trained churchgoers to pack heat in the pews.
With all due respect to a man who just witnessed a horrible shoot-out in his own church, he’s thanking the wrong guys.
God grants us the right to self defense, the founders and framers memorialized it in the Constitution as a prevention from the Government usurping that God given right.
— The Situational Mutant (@KJC402TSM) December 30, 2019
God-given rights protect your right to defend yourself.
No! That is a mis-statement reflecting a dangerous misconception. Government does not "allow" us to protect ourselves. It is a right inherent in having life. Governments merely acknowledge such rights and support them (if they are good gov'ts). They don't allow or grant them.
— Arthur Pogonatus (@Arthur06619602) December 30, 2019
There is an inalienable right to self-defense implicit in the Second Amendment of the Constitution. This is one of the God-given rights of Americans. This right, among others, was so obvious to the founders and framers that they argued over whether it should even be enumerated in the Bill of Rights. Natural Law of man undergirds this truth.
From the Heritage Foundation:
The provision [Second Amendment] was easily accepted, however, because everyone agreed that the federal government should not have the power to infringe the right of the people to keep and bear arms any more than it should have the power to abridge the freedom of speech or prohibit the free exercise of religion.
A lot of people thought the record should be cleared up for anyone who doesn’t know from whence their rights come:
Your right to defend your self was endowed by your creator, the government is barred from infringing on that right by virtue of the 2nd amendment of the constitution, all your government did was follow the constitution, you're lucky you live in Texas
— Exile (@Exile53795574) December 30, 2019
He agrees:
Let's get something straight right here and now. The government doesn't "allow" you to have the right and means to defend yourself. The Bill of Rights protects that basic human right from all government intrusion. The government still encroaches on it daily. That's the problem.
— Bob Thornburgh (@KJ5IK) December 30, 2019
That old white guy, Tom Jefferson, had something to say about “life” too:
He needs a history lesson. pic.twitter.com/GVsnRxTG0w
— Black Belt Heart (@blackbeltheart) December 30, 2019
Some people may not know this because the anti-gun crowd gets more attention and wears pretty pearls for the cameras.
The Supreme Court has interpreted the Second Amendment as an individual right in Heller with the individual right to bear arms in both the Heller and McDonald decisions. Another Second Amendment related decision is expected by the Court next year.
Yes, there are restrictions in time, place and manner in First Amendment rights, for example, but the court has been silent recently about whether you should be a sitting duck in a church or synagogue. So the states get to decide. A good question to ask is why should I be a sitting duck in a church in Oregon or California but not in Texas? How is that “equal protection” under the 14th Amendment?
As we found out in the latest Texas church shooting, when seconds count, police are only minutes away. The killer was dropped in six seconds by the first guy who unholstered his weapon. Shouldn’t you have the right to protection? You do under God-given law. Why don’t more people demand it?
Here’s one thing we’re grateful for though:
God gave you the right to protect yourselves, pastor. So glad that you and your congregation were prepared to exercise that right today.
— BeautifiedOphelia (@darcysparty) December 30, 2019
Amen to that.
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