Texas State Sen. Roland Gutierrez (D-San Antonio), whose district includes Uvalde where 19 children and two teachers were gunned down inside Robb Elementary School last week, says he's going to continue pushing for legislation that makes it harder for bad guys to get guns.
Gutierrez said Texas legislators need to get to work on new laws targeting gun restrictions.
“Listen, I am going to keep pushing. If all I get to do is yell and scream at Greg Abbott, demand this. This isn't a game. This isn't a challenge. This isn't a political stunt," Gutierrez said. "We need to get into the building, to pass laws that make sense. Listen, I often hear from these guys that you know what, they are still going to get access to these guns. Let’s make it a little bit harder.“
UVALDE SCHOOL SHOOTING
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Gutierrez interrupted Gov. Greg Abbott’s news conference in Uvalde on Friday to press for a special session, but so far, while the governor has said "all options are on the table," he's not announced any plan to call legislators back to Austin.
GUNS PART OF LEGISLATIVE DISCUSSIONS OUTSIDE OF TEXAS
From Texas to Washington, guns are at the forefront of many discussions.
The U.S. House Judiciary Committee will hold an emergency meeting this week with hopes for a vote on legislation that includes raising the age to buy a semi-automatic rifle from 18-21. U.S. Sen. John Cornyn (R-TX), along with senators from both parties, met Tuesday hoping to find a common ground to break the gridlock on guns.
“Senators Murphy, Sinema, Tillis, and I had a very constructive conversation about the best response to the horrific events in Uvalde last week," Cornyn said. "We’ve asked our staff to continue to work together to address some of the details that we hope to be able to discuss at some point soon."
“I am willing to get uncomfortable in these conversations and support things that, you know, I may have been previously unwilling to support as long as Republicans are willing to do the same thing,” said U.S. Sen. Chris Murphy (D-CT).
“Glad for it. I hope something comes of it. We are 76 days away from schools starting in Texas. Every day we get closer is one day closer to another one of these tragedies,” added Gutierrez.
As for what happens next in Texas, special sessions, and the agenda for those sessions, are at the discretion of the governor and Abbott has not made any announcement one way or the other.
