Texas Gov. Rick Perry says prayer can be more effective than gun control laws.

In a statement responding to President Barack Obama's executive actions to reduce gun violence, Perry says he's "disgusted" by what he calls the "political left" using the Connecticut school massacre to push for greater restrictions on guns.

The governor says, "The sad young man who did that in Newtown was clearly haunted by demons and no gun law could have saved the children in Sandy Hook Elementary from his terror."

Perry calls passing laws "the only redoubt of secularism." Instead, he says, "Let us all return to our places of worship and pray for help. Above all let us pray for our children."

The Republican governor adds that the Second Amendment trumps Barack Obama or any other president.