Citing that firearms are the leading cause of death among children and teens, State Senator Roland Gutierrez led gun violence safety advocates in announcing a package of bills that he said are aimed at tackling the epidemic of gun violence in Texas.
Gutierrez was joined by survivors and families of the victims of the Uvalde and Santa Fe school shootings.
“The survivors and families of these school shootings are the bravest people I know. They get up every morning on a mission to stop gun violence all across this state and country, to prevent any other parent from having to go through this nightmare,” said Gutierrez.
Gutierrez rolled out 6 gun-related bills. Senate Bill 1657 (SB 1657) is the Raise the Age bill. It would raise the age to buy a semiautomatic rifle from 18 to 21 years old.
“How is it that we live in a state that allows an 18-year-old to buy an AR 15 with impunity,” said Gutierrez. “It has happened here in 2022, days prior to this horrible tragedy (Robb Elementary Shooting). How is it that, that can happen when the same 18-year-old can’t buy a cigarette and can’t buy a beer, but he can buy an AR-15?”
SB 1658 establishes universal background checks and emergency protective orders, and raises the age limit to purchase a firearm to 21 with exemptions for law enforcement and military personnel. SB 1712 mandates safe storage of firearms and ammunition to prevent underage access.
SB 1710 creates a compensation fund for victims of gun violence in schools, $1 million per victim. SB 1711 bans 3D-printed firearms. And SB 1656 establishes May 24th as Victims of the Uvalde Shooting Day, a state holiday.
Among those on hand for the news conference was Brett Cross, who lost his son Uziah Garcia in the shooting at Robb Elementary.
“I don’t care how many times we get told no, we will continue to come back because unlike these representatives in our government, we actually care about children,” said Cross. “Because no matter what we say or do we can never bring our kids back, but we can’t help protect other kids.”
Just like last session when only one of his 19 gun-related bills got a Senate Committee hearing, Gutierrez realizes the fight for what he calls commonsense gun laws is an uphill battle that he’s willing to fight.
“77% of Republican men and women want to see an age limit increase,” said Gutierrez. “The people that don’t wanna have that happen are the Republicans in the Senate and the Republicans in the house.”
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