Updated Monday at 11:45 a.m. with criticism of Paxton comments.

Texas Democrats skewered state Attorney General Ken Paxton on Monday for asserting that churchgoers should be armed when they worship, to avert the sort of mass shooting that occurred Sunday in Sutherland Springs, where a gunman killed at least 26 people.

Ken Paxton (The Associated Press)

"We've had shootings at churches, you know, forever. It's going to happen again. And so, we need people in churches -- either professional security or at least arming some of the parishioners or the congregation -- so that they can respond, when something like this happens again," Paxton told Fox News on Sunday. "All I can say is in Texas at least we have the opportunity to have conceal carry. And so ... there's always the opportunity that gunman will be taken out before he has the opportunity to kill very many people."

Authorities say 26-year-old Devin Patrick Kelley wore a ballistic vest and a black mask with a white skull on it as he killed 26 people Sunday at First Baptist Church with an assault-style rifle.

"Something is woefully wrong when elected officials wring their hands and suggest we can only stay safe by bringing arsenals to church," said Manny Garcia, the Texas Democratic Party's deputy executive director, asserting that Paxton should apologize for his comments. "Texans deserve more from their chief law enforcement official than inaction and willful ignorance. The answer to horrific gun violence is not more of the same. Lord knows we have already had plenty of that."

There's no evidence that anyone at the church shot back, but as the gunman left the church, a nearby resident, Stephen Willeford, grabbed his own rifle and confronted him. The gunman dropped his weapon and fled. Willeford and Johnnie Langendorff, who'd been driving by, chased the gunman for 11 miles at speeds up to 95 mph, until he crashed. The gunman was found dead, having shot himself.

The state's open carry laws allow licensed owners to carry guns in most public spaces. But Paxton said many people view church as a haven from violence and are more vulnerable there.

"That's why so many people don't carry in a church. Whereas if this had been somewhere else you might have seen somebody being able to react," he said.

Democrats argued that Paxton's approach -- encouraging more weapons in church -- is the wrong response to Sunday's rampage.

"Texans are right to believe that our churches are sanctuaries of peace," Garcia said. "Texans are right to expect safety while worshipping on a Sunday morning. And Texans are right to foster a culture where our firearms aren't in our places of worship. Ken Paxton is wrong to suggest otherwise."

On Good Morning Britain, host Piers Morgan called Paxton a "brainless moron" for his comments.