After church shooting, Texas pastor says he will carry a gun while preaching

Texas Pastor Jamie Chapa of El Faro Bible Church in Sullivan City, Texas, says he plans to carry a handgun while preaching in light of the deadly Sutherland Springs massacre that took the lives of over two dozen parishioners and injured many more.

What did he say?

Chapa told KRGV-TV on Monday, "There will be three armed [licensed] persons at all times at every service. Nobody needs to know who they are, but our church will be protected."

The south Texas pastor said that he decided to implement the changes in the wake of Sunday's shooting at First Baptist Church.

"What happened in Sutherland will not ever happen in our church," Chapa said. "This was not supposed to happen."

Is anyone else doing things like this?

Pastor Shannon Talley of the McAllen First Baptist Church on Monday told KRGV that new procedures for concealed weapon carriers to make other church members aware of who is carrying a concealed weapon.

"We are putting that into place so our concealed-carry people know each other, but we are also setting things up to where they're located strategically throughout the auditorium in the services that we have," Talley said.

The Rev. Ron Smith of the Church of the King in McAllen told KGBT-TV on Monday that he believes more churchgoers should be armed to prevent events like the one in Sutherland Springs .

"If the public carried guns, there would be less people killed by the bad guys," Smith said, and added that he would not be opposed to congregants carrying weapons to church services. "Those who have a license to carry concealed, I personally encourage it, but it would depend on what our elders say and the written policy that we come up with."