The March 3 Texas primaries will include three men who survived church shootings and are now running as Republicans to protect Second Amendment rights. Frank Pomeroy is the pastor of the First Baptist Church in Sutherland Springs, where a gunman killed 26 people during a service in 2017. Among the victims that day was Pomeroy's teenage daughter. Now, he's seeking the Texas Senate seat in sprawling District 21, which stretches from Austin to the Mexico border.
Meanwhile, two men hailed as heroes for taking down church shooters are also seeking office on a gun-rights platform. Stephen Willeford took out the Sutherland Springs shooter, and Jack Wilson fatally shot the gunman who attacked the West Freeway Church of Christ in White Settlement last December. Both are running for county commission seats this year.
Pomeroy tells KTRH that gun control is not the way to prevent mass shootings. "Evil exists, all we can do is continue to protect the rights we have to protect ourselves against that evil," he says. "I do believe that we need our Second Amendment rights protected."
When it comes to safety, he believes churches should not be gun-free zones. "The idea of churches, especially in rural areas, being soft targets draws those who are rather cowardly and want to get their name in prestige by going and shooting up these churches," says Pomeroy.
Rather than pass new gun regulations, Pomeroy wants to see a return to respect for human life in society, which he feels has been diminished by abortion and euthanasia. "There's no sanctity of life in the womb, and none at the other end of the gamut either," he says. "And we need to get back to teaching our young people that life is precious."