Texas pastor Britt Farmer praised law enforcement for their rapid response to his church Sunday and thanked government for allowing parishioners to be armed for self-defense.

Farmer is the pastor at West Freeway Church of Christ, the site of the December 29, 2019, attack wherein armed parishioners took out a gunman almost immediately after he fired a round.

ABC News aired video of Farmer praising both the response and “kindness” shown by law enforcement.

He then shifted his attention to armed congregants, saying, “We lost two great men today, but it could have been a lot worse. And I am thankful that our government has allowed us the opportunity to protect ourselves.”

West Freeway Church of Christ Senior Minister Britt Farmer: "I’m thankful our government has allowed us the opportunity to protect ourselves" pic.twitter.com/5fLSnSjQzg — Tom Elliott (@tomselliott) December 30, 2019

Gov. Greg Abbott (R) signed legislation allowing parishioners to be armed following the November 5. 2017, Sutherland Springs, Texas, church shooting.

AWR Hawkins is an award-winning Second Amendment columnist for Breitbart News and the writer/curator of Down Range with AWR Hawkins, a weekly newsletter focused on all things Second Amendment, also for Breitbart News. He is the political analyst for Armed American Radio. Follow him on Twitter: @AWRHawkins. Reach him directly at awrhawkins@breitbart.com. Sign up to get Down Range at breitbart.com/downrange.