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NRA ad features Sutherland Springs hero’s moving commentary: 'It's not the gun, it's the heart\
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NRA ad features Sutherland Springs hero’s moving commentary: 'It's not the gun, it's the heart\

Stephen Willeford is a lifetime National Rifle Association member, and he's here to reveal in an NRA ad that the problem isn't with guns — it's with hearts.

Willeford is one of the two heroes who helped take down Sutherland Springs church mass murderer Devin Patrick Kelley in the aftermath of the massacre.

What's the ad all about?

Willeford was featured in one of the NRA's latest ads, in which he describes the moment he discovered that Kelley was systematically murdering churchgoers in the building across the street from him.

In the ad, Willeford said, "My daughter came into the bedroom and she said, 'Dad, there's a man in black tactical gear shooting up the Baptist church.' Every one of those shots, to me, represented one of my neighbors, one of my friends. And I ran as fast as I could."

"Immediately," Willeford added, "[Kelley] came out of the church, shooting at me. He hit the truck in front of me. He hit the car behind, he hit the house behind me. And I hit him."

"He had an AR-15, but so did I. And ... it's not the gun, it's the heart," he said. "It's a matter of the heart. I'm not the bravest man in the world, or anything, but I was here. I was here, and I could do something, and I had to do something."

What about mainstream media?

Willeford also penned an article for The Dallas Morning News, in which he discussed the impending arrival of the NRA for its annual convention in Dallas May 4-6.

In the article, Willeford says that mainstream media is "anti-gun," and notes that anti-gun activists are simply wrong.

"Not everyone in Dallas has welcomed NRA members ahead of this big event," Willeford writes. "Anti-gun politicians and anti-gun activists have made clear their belief that the way to stop criminals is to restrict the rights of law-abiding citizens, and many have blamed the men and women of the NRA for acts of deranged individuals."

"Sometimes," he adds, "it feels like the mainstream media hates firearms."

Willeford goes on to continue that he is "proof that they are wrong," and also "proof that the NRA's familiar mantra is true: The best way to stop a bad guy with a gun is a good guy with a gun."

Anything else?

"A lot of gun control groups out there talk about restricting gun rights, but criminals don't obey laws," Willeford later continues. "Those restrictions only affect law-abiding gun owners like me. They do nothing to increase public safety."

Willeford goes on to laud the NRA, adding that the gun organization promotes "safe and responsible use of firearms."

He concludes by expressing his displeasure at U.S. politicians demonizing the NRA.

"I have been saddened to see politicians demonize the men and women of this organization lately," Willeford writes. "It's an organization that taught me a great deal and of which I've been a proud member most of my life."

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