CT gun advocates react to Texas church shooting

Gun advocates said its paramount gun safety education and the discussion about mental health be the main focus of any ongoing talks of proposed new laws.

Sunday's mass murder in a Baptist church in Texas re-ignited the heated discussion on the second amendment, the right to bear arms.

"He broke the laws. We keep talking about passing more and more laws," Scott Wilson, who is the president of the Connecticut Citizens Defense League, said. "When right now the laws that are in place aren't stopping anyone from committing a crime."

Wilson was critical of what he calls state senators "knee-jerk reaction" to the latest mass shooting.

"Congress has been complicit in these kinds of mass shootings. By its complicity congress, has in effect, aided and abetted them," U.S. Sen. Richard Blumenthal said.

"Both of our Senators Senator [Chris] Murphy and Senator Blumenthal took it upon themselves to start attacking our second amendment rights before the scene was even secure," Wilson said.

As Connecticut flags fly at half-staff to honor the victims, Wilson said the fact that a legally armed citizen pursued the Texas shooter, supports the cause to bear arms.

"We're very thankful that somebody was there was armed and was able to track this suspect down and help put an end to the situation," Wilson said.

"Fortunate, there was a law-abiding citizen who was armed, properly trained and felt the confidence that he could intervene and probably save many, many additional lives," Charles Platz, who is the owner of the Armory Gun Store, said.

Gun retailers and owners such as Platz encourage an open dialogue among all parties involved in maintaining our existing laws.

"For true change to happen within the firearms community, it's going to take honest proactive collaboration between a number of parties and across a number of different sectors," Platz said.