After Arlington shooting, advocates hope for changes to state gun laws
The Texas chapter of the group, Moms Demand Action, is renewing a call for changes to gun laws as a result of the shooting at Lamar High School in Arlington. Police say one student shot and killed another, and a bullet grazed another student who survived. The suspect has been charged with capital murder.
"There are hundreds of students who are affected by what happened and will live with that trauma," says Moms Demand Action's Kat Vargas. "That entire community will be affected by this."
Moms Demand Action says the shooting outside Lamar High School follows two others at or near schools in North Texas this school year. In January, two students were shot and one was killed in a shooting across from Paschal High School in Fort Worth. In October, a student accidentally fired a gun while showing it off at an elementary school in Dallas.
Moms Demand Action says 3,996 people die from gun violence in Texas each year. The group says the rate of gun deaths has increased 46% over the past ten years, higher than the national average of 39%.
Vargas says the state legislature may be prepared to take some steps to reduce those numbers.
SB 728 has passed the State Senate and would close a loophole that currently lets people involuntarily hospitalized with mental illness between ages 16 and 18 buy guns. A companion bill is still in committee in the Texas House.
SB 145 would increase the age to buy assault-style rifles from 18 to 21. Governor Greg Abbott has said that would be unconstitutional.
House Speaker Dade Phelan has said the measure is not likely to have enough votes in his chamber.
Moms Demand Action held a rally outside the State Capitol in February to support new laws. Vargas says that was the group's biggest advocacy event ever.
"There has been some progress," Vargas says. "I don't know what all we'll see, but I know we're going to be fighting really hard."
In addition to the passage of new laws, Vargas says the state should adequately fund community based violence intervention and reduction programs.
"This is becoming more prevalent. We are seeing this more and more," she says. "It's not isolated. We do need our legislature to step up and address this problem."
Outside of the legislature, Vargas says school districts are working to prevent students from getting access to guns. She says 75% of guns found on campuses belong to the student's family or close friends.
Houston and Dallas ISDs send parents information on how to store guns safely. Vargas says she lives in Frisco ISD, which passed a resolution in September asking parents to acknowledge safe storage guidelines.
"That's extremely important that adults are responsible and securely store their firearms at home," she says. "We've been very grateful to the school districts that have already adopted these measures and hopefully we'll see more doing so."
Moms Demand Action's stats on gun violence in Texas can be found at https://everystat.org/#Texas.
Related
LISTEN on the Audacy App
Tell your Smart Speaker to "PLAY 1080 KRLD"
Sign Up to receive our KRLD Insider Newsletter for more news