Democrats push Abbott for special session on guns, but governor proposes roundtables
AUSTIN -- Several Texas Democratic lawmakers are calling on Gov. Greg Abbott to convene a special session and pass gun control legislation after a racist gunman targeted immigrants in an El Paso Walmart last weekend.
The massacre, which left 22 dead, is the fourth mass shooting in Texas in just three years, lawmakers are pointing out. It follows the attacks that killed six police officers in Dallas in 2016, 26 church congregants in Sutherland Springs in 2017, and eight school children and two teachers in Santa Fe in 2018.
Abbott, who visited El Paso this week to greet President Donald Trump and meet with state officials, is instead calling for “roundtables” to brainstorm ideas about how to deal with domestic terrorism. After the 2018 school shooting, Abbott also turned to roundtables.
“Roundtables, are simply not enough,” said Rep. Victoria Neave, a Dallas Democrat, who wrote a letter to Abbott calling for a special session.
Read more: https://www.dallasnews.com/news/politics/2019/08/09/democrats-push-abbott-special-session-guns-governor-proposes-roundtables