The owners of La Bella Pizza defended their employees’ right to arm themselves for self-defense one week after one their employees shot and killed a robbery suspect in the store.

Breitbart News reported that the suspect entered the store around 10:30 p.m. on January 9 and died shortly after the employee shot him multiple times.

News Channel 10 identified the suspect as 36-year-old Clayton Morgan, saying he “was armed and used his weapon to make demands on store employees.” They reported that “one employee was forcibly grabbed, and used as a hostage.”

The armed employee, who is a concealed carry permit holder, opened fire after feeling “threatened.” Morgan was transported to a hospital, where he died.

A week later, the Amarillo Globe-News quoted excerpts of a statement from the owners of La Bella Pizza, wherein they expressed sympathy for those families who were grieving over the loss of life while also defending their employees’ right to be armed for self-defense.

The owners said, “Our policy always has and always will be that our employees are welcome to legally and responsibly possess the means to defend themselves and others around them,” adding, “We would like to thank our community for the outpouring of support and understanding we have received during this time and look forward to serving you again.”

AWR Hawkins is an award-winning Second Amendment columnist for Breitbart News, the host of the Breitbart podcast Bullets, 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.