Dallas bishop rips 'cowboy mentality,' praises Obama gun-control initiative
January 06, 2016
Bishop Kevin Farrell has released a stinging denunciation of “the cowboy mentality” and praised President Barack Obama for his executive orders restricting the sale of firearms.
”It is absurd that terrorists, criminals, and mentally unbalanced people can freely and openly buy weapons not intended for sport, but designed to kill people,” the bishop wrote. He announced that the Dallas diocese will now prohibit the “the possession of any weapon” on all diocesan properties.
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Posted by: AgnesDay -
Jan. 08, 2016 3:40 PM ET USA
1jn416: The obvious issue happens to be how vulnerable Bishop Farrell has left the people in his Diocese by making these statements and policies. How many gun crimes in this country were committed using lawful weapons, anyway? Bishop Farrell could have done many prudent things to help others while protecting his people. He did neither.
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Posted by: jalsardl5053 -
Jan. 07, 2016 8:01 PM ET USA
Dear Bishop Farrell: I'd think that you'd be a whole lot more focused on the 57,512,025 ABORTIONS that have taken place since 1973 but you seem to have totally lost any kind of focus on what's important. If you are unable to do that, at least do us the courtesy of understanding that criminals ain't gonna register nada. P.S. advise your parishoners to go elsewhere; you've just made them all sitting ducks.
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Posted by: loumiamo -
Jan. 07, 2016 3:17 PM ET USA
Yo, 1Jn416, so what do u do with the DOCUMENTED more than 1 million Americans per year whose lives are saved by personal firearms? That's a heck of a lot more saves than the casualties u suggest, which I'm not certain how accurate ur figures r. Bishop Farrell is completely out of line here, but he does prove how great a gift God has given us in our priests: a priest can still confect the Eucharist no matter how wanting he may be in prudence and wisdom. So we got that going for us, which is nice.
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Posted by: 1Jn416 -
Jan. 07, 2016 1:51 PM ET USA
I rest my case on my original comment (2nd from bottom). Note how this article has far more comments than most at CWNews, and all except mine are in opposition to the bishop. Yes, abortion is a much bigger problem than gun violence in America. That is no reason to ignore gun violence (30,000 dead and 180,000 injured annually), or to agitate against just and constitutional laws such as universal background checks.
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Posted by: AgnesDay -
Jan. 07, 2016 1:42 PM ET USA
Oh, thank you, Bishop Farrell. Now every unbalanced creep in Texas knows exactly where to let loose with an attack. You are also inviting people to disobey your authority or to go to Mass in another diocese. That's a twofer for stupidity in leadership.
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Posted by: brenda22890 -
Jan. 07, 2016 10:07 AM ET USA
Bishop Farrell needs to brush up on his American history.
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Posted by: Chestertonian -
Jan. 07, 2016 3:15 AM ET USA
He might as well paint a big target on the Chancery door, since he's inviting a robbery of every parish and diocesan facility. Criminals won't be going thru' background checks in order to obtain weapons; they're criminals! These new restrictions will simply give the govt more information about the gun ownership of law-abiding citizens, which I have no doubt is the true intention. The increasing tyranny of this admin is precisely what the Founding Fathers had in mind with the 2nd amendment.
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Posted by: skall391825 -
Jan. 06, 2016 10:28 PM ET USA
Catholics are permitted--in fact called-- by Church teaching to challenge Bishop Farrell. If private meetings are unsuccessful in convincing him to openly mitigate his extra-competent, purely political statement supporting Obama's unconstitutional action, members of the diocese should go public with their complaint. The media would be only too happy to assist Farrell in exacerbating his clericalism and embarrassing the Church further. In time Rome would be forced to act.
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Posted by: reg.giffin7849 -
Jan. 06, 2016 10:18 PM ET USA
I am afraid all the Bishop has done in create potentially killing zones within our Churches
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Posted by: Minnesota Mary -
Jan. 06, 2016 7:48 PM ET USA
Let's hope that no killer shoots up people on diocesan properties. There won't be anyone with a gun to stop him. Bishop Farrell may not like "the cowboy mentality," it beats being stupid.
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Posted by: unum -
Jan. 06, 2016 7:16 PM ET USA
Now that the bishop has blown off some steam, perhaps he can teach the laity about some constructive Christian action, like advocating for help for the mentally ill. Our bishops advocating support for political action teach the laity nothing.
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Posted by: 1Jn416 -
Jan. 06, 2016 6:22 PM ET USA
It is nice to see a shepherd weighing in on this important issue. I always find myself perplexed by devout Catholics who seem more energized about gun ownership than abortion or evangelization, who seem to make an idol of the 2nd Amendment and act as if it were part of the Gospel. How can a serious Catholic oppose just laws that would reduce the 20,000 suicides and 10,000 homicides by gun annually?
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Posted by: Frodo1945 -
Jan. 06, 2016 5:25 PM ET USA
The good Bishop should read the Constitution and urge all Catholics to abide by it. President Obama has just unilaterally made actions illegal without any legislation backing it up. This is lawlessness and I would like to see it condemned. The President ca cry about first graders killed 3 years ago but has no such qualms about the 4,000 unborn children who died today. Where oh where is our sense of proportion?
