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Gun violence Special Session doubtful despite calls for meeting
The Chairman of the Texas GOP on Friday called a Special Session a "terrible idea." A big reason why Smith doubts Gov. Greg Abbott will issue a call is because of the upcoming November election.
AUSTIN, Texas - A Special Session, by law, can only last 30 days. That’s not a lot of time to deal with issues like gun control, expanding mental health services and school safety plans.
Political analyst Brian Smith questioned what could be accomplished.
"So this is the problem. The bigger the change, the harder it is to pass. The smaller the change, the easier it is to pass, the less meaningful it will be," said Smith.
The Chairman of the Texas GOP on Friday called a Special Session a "terrible idea." A big reason why Smith doubts Governor Greg Abbott will issue a call is because of the upcoming November election.
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Scrutiny over response time in Uvalde, Texas school shooting
As families and the community mourn the loss of 21 people in the deadly shooting, questions continue on the law enforcement response. FOX 7 Austin's John Krinjak spoke to Professor Emeritus Bill Spellman of the LBJ School of the Public Affairs at the University of Texas about the topic.
"If he brings the legislature in and nothing happens, that hurts him. If he brings the legislature in and the session gets hijacked, that doesn't help him. He brings the legislature in and they pass something small. His critics are still going to say, we want more. So nobody's going to do a whole lot of anything meaningful between now and the fall elections here in Texas," said Smith.
A top member of the Texas House agrees the timing for a Special Session is not good.
"I'm not calling for anything right now. I mean, the families are laying their babies to rest," said State Rep Nicole Collier.
Collier, a Democrat from Fort Worth, leads the Texas Legislative Black Caucus. The group issued a statement shortly after the shooting in Uvlade, where 19 children and two teachers were killed.
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Collier said in part, "Instead of making empty promises or arming more people...look at common sense solutions that work."
She admits, reform is not a one-step process.
"We need to look at a collaborative approach. I don't think it's just one area that we need to focus on," said Collier.
Potential legislation includes:
- Increasing school counselor
- Limiting large capacity magazines
- Collecting sales data
- Incresasing the legal age to purchase a gun
"You know, also the 18-year-olds. This just completely compounds me. Why is an 18-year-old permitted to purchase a rifle? And I love how Republicans keep saying it's a rifle. Well, these are semiautomatic rifles, the same that our military uses. And so we're still allowing 18-year-olds to buy that, but they can't drink alcohol and they can't smoke tobacco. So don't tell me the government will not intervene in personal choice, because they will, and they have," said Collier.
Change will bring challenges in the courtroom, according to Smith.
"Well, some of the things that people are talking about is the magazine clips and changing the age limit for certain weapons from 18 to 21. And we've seen the government intervene on this with the drinking age, for example, moving that nationwide from 18 to 21. So it's not unprecedented, but of course, it's going to face a legal challenge because when we look at the Second Amendment, it protects that right to keep and bear arms. And the voting age is also 18," said Smith.
Instead, starting debate now, Collier has a summer homework assignment for lawmakers.
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Community members, former state senator hold multi-faith vigil honoring Uvalde victims
Organizers say the goal is to first remember those lost instead of getting into policy right away.
"One thing I will ask our fellow members in the Texas legislature to do is do a temperature check, check in with your constituency, because we hear so much on the news about how the people in America, their opinions about gun laws are changing. They're evolving. So let's take a temperature check, check in with your constituents to see where their state, where they stand," said Collier.
Reform will most likely include a Review. Collier noted how several new school safety rules were created after the school shooting in Santa Fe.
She is concerned about how investigators say the gunman in Uvalde got into the school through a door left open by a teacher.
"We need to make sure that if you're going to put a plan in place, it's followed. Maybe that, you know, would be, you know, reviewing it yearly, making sure that everyone is aware of what that process is. So, you know, it's your rules are only as good as people follow them. So, you know, we have some things in place, but it hasn't been followed. And yes, we need to reevaluate that," said Collier.