Three survivors of church shootings are running as gun-rights advocates in March Republican primaries in Texas, The Wall Street Journal reported.
Pastor Frank Pomeroy, Stephen Willeford, and Jack Wilson are each running for office as Second Amendment advocates.
"I never had such a voice," Willeford, who grabbed his AR-15 and pursued and shot the Sutherland Springs, Texas, church shooter, told the Journal. "Now people are willing to listen to me.
"I hope it's a trend," he added. "Let's be proactive."
Willeford is referred to as "Good Gun Guy Wille" and seeks to make Wilson County, Texas, a "Second Amendment sanctuary," defying gun laws, in his campaign for county commissioner.
Pomeroy, who lost his teenage daughter in the Sutherland Springs shooting that killed 26, is running for state Senate, challenging a popular Democrat in a largely blue district, per the Journal.
"As Texans, we believe in personal responsibility, and we want to make more critically thought decisions, even though, obviously, when we see these shootings happen and see that parents have lost children, it tweaks our emotions," Pomeroy told the Journal.
Wilson, the security officer who shot the West Freeway Church of Christ shooter Dec. 29, was already a candidate for Hood County commissioner in North Texas, which is Republican heavy.
His campaign signs show a red bull's-eye above his name, reading "Make sure your vote is on target."
Eric Mack ✉
Eric Mack has been a writer and editor at Newsmax since 2016. He is a 1998 Syracuse University journalism graduate and a New York Press Association award-winning writer.
© 2023 Newsmax. All rights reserved.