Tarrant County commissioners ask Texas governor to call special session on gun safety
The Tarrant County commissioners voted unanimously Tuesday to call on Gov. Greg Abbott to hold a special legislative session to protect children from gun violence and enact “common sense” policies.
The resolution, brought forth by Commissioner Roy Brooks, came with a matter of urgency. He said there needed to be relief for students, parents, faculty and school staff that could only be provided by the Legislature before school started this fall.
This wasn’t something that could wait, Brooks said, and it needed to happen now.
The commissioners’ vote comes after 19 students and two teachers were killed in an Uvalde elementary school as police officers delayed entry. It was Texas’ eighth mass shooting in 13 years. Gun laws across the state, even amid the continuous mass shootings, have continually relaxed regulations.
The resolution said the Legislature could do something to protect children from gun violence but has only had debates that have led to no action.
Tarrant County also joins Dallas County in a call for a special session: Dallas’ commissioners passed their own resolution at their meeting last week.
The only state action so far in the weeks following Uvalde’s mass shooting has been Abbott’s request to form special committees to examine school and firearm safety.
Two audience members spoke on the resolution before the vote took place. Cherry Langford, a retired Birdville school district teacher, told the commissioners her sorrow, experience and faith had brought her there today.
She said that Abbott has proven he would protect the lives of unborn children, but that they had to beg to get him to protect the lives of the children who are alive. She didn’t understand why the governor continued to sit on his hands, she said, and said the governor made it easy for people like the Uvalde shooter to purchase the assault weapon he used to kill 21 people.
Common sense gun regulations wouldn’t take guns away from people, Langford said, and safety and regulation needed to coexist.
“Our governor is no man of action until he calls a special session to make Texas safer for our children, and he is certainly not pro-life until he is willing to protect the lives of all God’s children,” Langford said.
Mary Goodman, who said she attended Saturday’s March For Our Lives rally, told the commissioners people don’t need access to weapons of war. She appreciated the resolution, but said the governor has made it clear guns will remain accessible, and that the responsibility for any changes will fall on local government.
“Thank you, my colleagues,” Brooks said after the vote, “For protecting our children.”
This story was originally published June 14, 2022 at 11:24 AM.
