By John Dempsey, WLS-AM News
(CHICAGO) A south suburban Republican congressman is reacting to the massacre at a Texas church that left 26 people dead. Channahon Congressman Adam Kinzinger told “The Big John and Ramblin’ Ray Show” on WLS that he does not think more gun control is the answer to prevent incidents such as Sunday’s massacre at the First Baptist Church of Sutherland Springs, Texas.
“Sometimes in a free society things are difficult to stop”, said Kinzinger. “I think it’s a fact. Every tragedy that happens we’d like to think there is something the government can do. I really think it starts at home. I think it starts in the community. It starts in the heart.”
Gunman Devin Kelley had domestic problems, and his mother-in-law had attended the church he targeted Sunday, said Freeman Martin of the Texas Department of Public Safety.
Kelley’s mother-in-law had received threatening messages from him, Martin said.
Authorities say Kelley fatally shot 26 people Sunday at First Baptist Church in Sutherland Springs. The slain victims ranged in age from 18 months to 77 years old.
After Kelley left the church, he was shot by a nearby civilian, officials said. Kelley called his father and said he didn’t think he was going to make it, Martin said. Kelley then shot himself.
Kinzinger told WLS he was glad to see that civilian step in.
“When you think about it, look at some of the positive stories out of it though, the neighbor across the street that saw what was happening and began to engage the gunman. The other hero that stopped his truck and picked up the neighbor and they chased this guy down and eventually he died. As tragic as it is there’s still very good Americans out there that are willing to put their lives on the line to protect other people even if they’re not police officers or fire-ems. ”
Kinzinger also feels that shootings such as this can be blamed on the numbers of Americans who are turning away from organized religion.
“You know, you have more and more people, and people have the right to believe whatever they want, but you know I saw a story, and it may not be true on this guy, it may be true, he was, you know, an avowed atheist. You have more and more people that are rejecting the idea that there’s anything beyond what they are doing here on earth and you’re really seeing in certain communities like there’s just this this, people are generally in a malaise and sad. So that leads to one out of a million people jumping out and acting like this. We need to look at obviously is he mentally ill, was he allowed to buy weapons if he was certified as mentally ill. That’s obviously an issue that we believe strongly he shouldn’t be able to.”
Kelley was a member of the US Air Force and served at Holloman Air Force Base in New Mexico from 2010 until his discharge, according to Air Force spokeswoman Ann Stefanek.
He was court-martialed in 2012 for assault on his spouse and assault on their child, according to Stefanek. He served a year in confinement, received a bad conduct discharge and had his rank reduced, she said.
In April 2016, Kelley purchased the Ruger AR-556 rifle he allegedly used in the shooting from a store in San Antonio, Texas, a law enforcement official said. There was no disqualifying information in the background check conducted as required for the purchase, a law enforcement official told CNN.
(CNN contributed to this report).
@ 2017 WLS-AM News
