Texas’ gun laws credited for saving for saving lives in church shooting

Texas officials are hailing Texas' gun laws, which allow licensed gun owners to carry concealed weapons in places of worship, for saving hundreds of lives during a shooting at a Texas church Sunday.

Officials say Keith Thomas Kinnunen, 43, shot and killed two people inside the West Freeway Church of Christ. Seconds later he was shot and killed by a parishioner who volunteers for the church's security team.

"I don't see myself as a hero. I see myself as doing what needed to be done to take out the evil threat," said Jack Wilson, the parishioner.

Every place of worship has different practices and policies when it comes to open carry. The first Baptist church in central El Paso goes the extra mile to make sure they're prepared in the event of active shooter situation.

"We have a lot of law enforcement people who attend here and some of them are specifically trained in active shooter scenarios, and we've tried to lean on them to give us the direction we need," said Mark Rotramel, Senior Past at First Baptist.

The church had the El Paso Police Department come in and do an analysis on the church and has had trainers come in to show the entire congregation what to do if there is an active shooter.

"We never want it to happen, but if it's going to happen we want to be prepared for that," said Rotramel.

The El Paso Catholic Diocese has a complete weapon ban on their premisis.

Spokesperson for the Diocese Fernando Ceniceros, said, "We've called for all of our perishes to have a security protocol in place especially during communion services or masses." He added, "I believe that ushers are trained to be able to assist parishioners if there is a need for an evacuation."