HOUSTON — After After months of urging for greater gun control, a Democrat from Uvalde in Texas where 19 children were killed, has finally agreed to take action. in After a shooting in which dozens of people were killed, the Republican leader for the State Senate warned that he would be banned from giving any speeches if he continued to bring up the issue.
As Jarvis Johnson, a Democrat from Houston and a Republican member of the State House discussed gun control, they laughed amongst themselves. “This is not a joke — this is real,” He shouted from the lectern He was astonished at the colleagues on Friday. “Children every day are dying.”
Only hours later, gunfire once again tore apart people’s daily lives in Texas. Violence erupted in a busy shopping center. in The Dallas suburb Allen was the scene of a violent attack by a 33 year-old man armed, according to officials, with a rifle similar to an AR-15. He killed at least eight people before a Dallas Police officer shot and killed him. on Saturday.
Just over a week had passed since a massive shooting in Five people were murdered by their neighbor in rural San Jacinto County north of Houston after they requested him to cease firing his gun in In his front lawn. These events occurred a few months after Uvalde massacre where two educators also perished.
The drumbeat of mass killings has fueled frustration among some Texans and a small amount of openness towards more gun regulations in In a state, even Democrats talk about their guns with pride. The violence, however, has not changed the political landscape. in State Capitol. Republicans are in control of the two legislative chambers, and also all state offices.
More than a dozen killings have occurred in the State over the last two decades of four or more peopleTexas eliminated the permit required to carry handguns. lowering the age when adults can carry handguns From 21 to 18.
Governor. Greg Abbott (a Republican) attended a Vigil to honor the victims of the Allen Premium Outlets shooting. but said earlier that there would be no new effort by his administration to limit access to firearms — because it would not work.
“We’ve seen an increased number of shootings in states with easy gun laws as well as shootings in states with very strict gun laws,” Mr. Abbott said in Interview on Fox News. He claimed that Texas is responding to the “dramatic increase in the amount of anger” You can find the best deals on flights to and from across the United States at “its root cause, which is addressing the mental health problems behind it.”
This message was largely similar to that delivered by Governor Christie the day after the elementary-school shooting in Uvalde in He observed at a May 2022 news conference, that more people were shot in Chicago every weekend in Texas schools.
Biden, however, called for immediate action. on Sunday. “Republican members of Congress cannot continue to meet this epidemic with a shrug,” He said in A statement which called for “a bill banning assault weapons and high-capacity magazines.”
Texas has passed a law that would raise the purchase age of an AR-15 style rifle from 18 to 21. has been introduced by Democrats Families of those killed in the attacks have taken up the cause. in Uvalde, but It was unlikely to be passed out of the committee by a deadline for a law on Monday. The legislation that would have prevented this 18-year old gunman in Uvalde to purchase the weapons he used. but It would have not been a consideration in Shooting in Allen where the shooter was older.
Investigators on On Sunday, investigators were still trying to figure out what motivated the gunman who opened fire in the shopping centre about 25 mile north of Dallas. This was the second most deadly shooting of 2018. in After the Monterey Park Massacre, the United States in A gunman shot and killed 11 people in Ballroom on Jan. 21.
Texas Department of Public Safety identifies the gunman in Saturday’s attack as Mauricio Garcia, 33, of Dallas.
The video that is circulating on The social media seemed to reveal him as a liar on Ground, covered in Black and equipped with a weapon and what looked like a tactical vest.
According to two officials from law enforcement, the gunman could have been a proponent of white supremacist ideologies. but It is not known if the incident was an act domestic terrorist.
A large outdoor shopping mall was the first place he went. in The midafternoon on Around 3:30pm on Saturday he stepped off a silver car and began to fire a rifle towards shoppers who were walking out.
Video taken on the scene shows people fleeing for safety as the shots were fired. The officer was a policeman who had been on Allen Police Department Chief Brian E. Harvey confirmed that an officer working on a different assignment heard gunfire at the shopping center, ran towards it, and shot dead the assailant. on Saturday.
Several law enforcement officers and agents, including those from the Texas Department of Public Safety and Federal Bureau of Investigation as well as the local police and Federal Bureau of Investigation were still at work. on Sunday is the day to notify families and identify victims. The injured — who ranged in age from 5 to 61 — were being treated at three trauma centers, according to a spokesman for one of the centers, Medical City Healthcare.
No Updated on September 29, 2009 on An investigation was carried out on Sunday, but gun control proponents in The report that yet another large-scale violent incident had occurred was a cause for concern.
“This is no longer unimaginable,” “Representative Johnson” in Interview on Sunday. “We are almost to the point of normalizing mass shootings in Texas, and that is the most disturbing thing.”
Although Texans do not support stricter gun laws, they have supported some measures of gun control in the past. on guns among Republican voters in Texas has appeared to have moderated somewhat. according to polls by the Texas Politics Project The University of Texas at Austin. In 2020, Republicans – 67 percent – told pollsters more guns make America safer. This percentage fell to 57 per cent the following year and then again after Uvalde.
“You are seeing a very slow erosion in some of the underlying attitudes that suggest a blanket enthusiasm for guns among Republicans,” James Henson said that the Texas Politics Project director, James Henson. “But it’s not dropping enough to signal a change, at least not yet.”
After the Uvalde elementary school shooting, two Republican state senators privately expressed their support for him to take some sort of gun control measure. “But since then, nothing has changed,” He said in Interview on Sunday.
Since months Mr. Gutierrez is trying to get action in The State Senate is dominated by the Republican Lt. Governor. Dan Patrick warned Gutierrez against bringing up gun control in a discussion last month. on A bill unrelated to the original to ban minors from drag shows.
“People don’t want to eliminate these guns, I get it — and I own guns myself,” Mr. Gutierrez said. He said that there were steps to be taken. For example, expanding background checks, or increasing the age for buying an AR-15 style rifle. “This is simple stuff,” “He said”
In Allen on Sunday, Amy Bennett stood on The side of the road was near Cottonwood Creek Church where the victims’ vigil had been held. She was holding a sign which read “This voter opposes gun violence,” With a photo of an AR-15 cross out. “Thoughts and prayers are useless,” “Said another sign, pinched to her shirt.” “The dead are still dead.”
As they drove by, several cars honked.
Annalisha Tiler, 48 years old, a Republican from Texas, lives in Austin. in the neighborhood of San Jacinto County where last month’s mass shooting took place, the ease with which anyone can get a gun has made her feel unsafe and open to restrictions such as requiring background checks for weapons purchased at gun shows.
“Access to guns is too easy here,” She said. She also armed herself for protection whenever she went out. “We don’t have police out here to protect us,” “She said” “I want good people with guns.”
Mamie Lester is 59 years old and a staunch Republican. on A farm of 50 acres in North Texas, said she and her husband had more than a dozen guns — rifles, shotguns and pistols — that remain carefully locked up in Their home is theirs when they are not in use. The killings continue in Allen has become more determined to act after recent shootings.
“I do realize that this is all out of control,” “She said” “I’m not totally against gun control, but they’re trying to control it for the wrong people. You’ve got to keep the guns out the hands of the criminals.” She stated that she believes better background check could be the solution.
Gregory K. Taggart teaches firearms at Texas Legends Gun Range in Allen who is located near the location of the recent shooting, has echoed Abbott’s statement that mental illness must be taken into consideration. in Recent gun violence: an analysis “Guns have been around forever. Mass shootings have not been,” Taggart, Mr. “My first question would be, Why do we have mass shootings now? I think our society is breaking down.”
He added that restricting firearms is not the solution. “When people talk about drunk driving, do they say, Let’s ban cars?”
Republicans are divided on the issue of abortion in Texas will not be under political pressure on the issue is the state’s recent electoral history. The Uvalde shooting took place during a hard-fought governor’s race between Mr. Abbott, running for a third term, and Beto O’Rourke, a former Democratic congressman who campaigned for some of the same gun control proposals that have recently been before the legislature. Mr. Abbott’s victory was by a large margin.
Families of victims have been urging their relatives to attend a memorial service last month in Uvalde testified at the State Capitol on In support of a bill raising the minimum age to purchase an AR-15 type rifle. It is important to note that the committee has voted in favor of raising the age for buying an AR-15-style rifle. in the Republican-controlled House even agreed to listen to them had felt to them like a kind of victory.
They waited hours to get their chance. Finally, they were called in After 10 pm, or about 13 hours since they had arrived in the Capitol.
“I’m reminded of May 24, 2022, when we waited hours to be told our daughter would never come home,” Kimberly Rubio spoke to the committee in tears about her daughter Lexie who was murdered in Shooting. “I expressed confusion then, and I’m perplexed now. Did you think we would go home?”
Mary Beth Gahan, Remy Tumin, Claire Fahy You can also find out more about the following: Lauren McCarthy Contributed Reporting
