Ron Paul clarifies comments on death of Navy SEAL sniper

After a public backlash, former presidential candidate Ron Paul used his Facebook page to clarify controversial comments he made Monday about the Navy SEAL who was killed at a Texas gun range over the weekend.

On Monday, Paul, 77, took cyber heat for a tweet he sent out following the news of the veteran's death.

Paul wrote: “Chris Kyle’s death seems to confirm that ‘he who lives by the sword dies by the sword.’ Treating PTSD at a firing range doesn’t make sense.”

His comments were re-tweeted more than 800 times and most of the responses he received were negative.

Paul backtracked some and offered a clarification on his Facebook page.

He wrote: "As a veteran, I certainly recognize that this weekend's violence and killing of Chris Kyle were a tragic and sad event. My condolences and prayers go out to Mr. Kyle’s family. Unconstitutional and unnecessary wars have endless unintended consequences. A policy of non-violence, as Christ preached, would have prevented this and similar tragedies. -REP"

Paul has spent much of his congressional career denouncing military intervention overseas. He publicly opposed the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan and called them unconstitutional.

Eddie Ray Routh, 25, has been charged with one count of capital murder and two counts of murder in the shooting deaths of Kyle, author of the best-selling book “American Sniper” and his friend Chad Littlefield. All three were at a shooting range in Glen Rose, Texas. Routh is on suicide watch at the Erath County Jail, where he’s being held on $3 million bail.

Kyle, who had four tours in Iraq, was the most lethal sniper in the U.S. He had 160 confirmed kills and received 14 different awards and decorations, including two Silver Stars, five Bronze Stars with Valor and two Navy and Marine Corps Achievement Medals. After leaving the Navy, he wrote his biography, “American Sniper.”