Abbott, Patrick and Phelan might support changes that make it harder for the next angry, alienated young man to carry out mass murder, but they won’t do anything to stop that person from being able to arm himself for war against school children, churchgoers, shoppers and others going about their daily lives.
The work of the first committee following the Santa Fe shooting led to zero reforms in state laws governing gun sales. The second committee disbanded during the pandemic without making any recommendations. Legislators, however, reconvened in 2021 and passed a law that Abbott enthusiastically signed, making it legal for most Texans 21 and over to carry a handgun without a permit or any training.
The legislative answer to mass shootings then was to get more people out there with guns. You know the, um, logic: Guns aren’t bad. It’s bad people with guns that kill people. We just need more good people with guns. Uvalde, a small South Texas city of less than 16,000 people, is home to hundreds of Border Patrol officers, other federal agents, local and school police and sheriff’s deputies. If trained, well-armed professionals were unable to stop Salvador Ramos, how are civilians packing their own handguns going to make a significant difference in such situations?Let’s be clear about one thing: Never has the word “special” been so misused.
State Sen. Roland Gutierrez, a Democrat from San Antonio who represents Uvalde in District 19, cries while discussing the victims of the mass school shooting at Robb Elementary School.Gutierrez, who has pressed Abbott for real gun reform in the state, told the Texas Tribune his exclusion was “a slap in the face to the people of Uvalde.”