Texas House Democrats ask Gov. Greg Abbott to call a special session after two mass shootings

[TexasTowelie]

by Cassandra Pollock and Chase Karacostas, Texas Tribune


Democrats in the Texas House are calling on Gov. Greg Abbott to convene a special legislative session to address gun violence — a move designed to place even more pressure on the state’s top GOP official to act in the wake of two deadly mass shootings just weeks apart.

A letter to Abbott was delivered Wednesday morning, hours before the House Democratic Caucus hosted five news conferences across the state to discuss “protecting Texans from gun violence.” The letter, which also included several gun-related legislative proposals, was signed by 63 of the 66 members in the caucus.

The caucus requested Abbott include issues such as “closing the background check loopholes” and “banning the sale of high-capacity magazines” in a special session agenda, along with "enacting extreme risk protective order laws and closing existing loopholes in current protective order laws," "limiting the open carry of certain semi-automatic long guns" and "requiring stolen guns be reported to law enforcement."

The request comes days after a gunman killed seven people and injured 22 others while on a rampage in Odessa and Midland. That shooting happened four weeks after a massacre in El Paso left 22 dead and more than two dozen wounded.

Read more: https://www.texastribune.org/2019/09/04/Texas-House-Democrats-ask-Greg-Abbott-for-emergency-session/