Retired Lt. Gen. William “Jerry” Boykin is now the executive vice president of the far right Family Research Council, and he gave a humdinger of a speech recently in Dallas for an audience of Republican lawmakers, telling them that Jesus is coming back, and this time he’ll be packing serious heat.

“[Jesus is] coming back as a warrior, carrying a sword,” Boykin said. “And I believe now, I’ve checked this out — I believe that sword he’ll be carryin’ when he comes back is an AR-15.”

Many in the audience laughed and some applauded, according to audio of the speech released Tuesday.

“Now I want you to think about this: Where did the 2nd Amendment come from? Where did the 2nd Amendment come from? I ask my students this; I ask men’s groups. I ask, ‘Where did the 2nd Amendment come from?’”

Boykin, in a somewhat comic voice, replied: ” ‘From the Founding Fathers! It’s in the Constitution!’

“Well, yeah, I know that. But where did the whole concept come from? It came from Jesus.”

An influential figure in the Republican Party, folks.