Keith David is speaking out in the aftermath of the Texas church shooting and the 61-year-old actor suggests that places of worship should increase security even if it means checking people at the door.
“Security check at the door may be a phase that we have to go through in churches in order to ensure the people are alright,” he told TMZ. “Ultimately, we have to help God help ourselves as far as looking after ourselves and our places of worship as we do everywhere else.”
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On Sunday, a 26-year-old gunman identified by the authorities as David Patrick Kelley opened fire on churchgoers at the First Baptist Church in Sutherland Springs, Texas. In the attack, 26 people were killed with 20 others being wounded.
The Greenleaf star says that people that suffer from mental illness should not be allowed to have guns.
“There are a lot of mentally ill people in the world, or emotionally ill people, people who are unstable people and they are allowed to carry guns. That is what we need to check,” David said. “There are a lot of people who should not be allowed to carry guns in churches or anywhere else.”
David believes that security checkpoints in churches should be an action taken if the government chooses not to impose further gun control laws.
“It’s something that needs to happen, at least until we get a handle on legislation as far as gun control,” he continued.
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As has previously been reported, the gunman was able to purchase a firearm because of a mistake made by the Air Force, who failed to follow policies for alerting federal law enforcement about Kelley’s violent history.
Due to a domestic violence conviction in 2014, Kelley should have been barred from purchasing guns and body armor, which he used in this past weekend’s rampage. While serving at Holloman Air Force Base in New Mexico, Kelley was convicted on two counts of domestic abuse against his wife and child.
According to Air Force spokeswoman Ann Stefanek, Kelley was booted from the military on a bad conduct discharge. He was also sentenced to a year in prison.
“Initial information indicates that Kelley’s domestic violence offense was not entered into the National Criminal Information Center database,” Stefanek said.
