More than 13,900 people nationwide have been killed in gun violence since Jan. 1, 2023. Seventeen of those mass shootings happened in Texas. As a result, HB-2744, the “Raise the Age” gun bill, passed out of committee after months of delay. This move comes as the horrific Uvalde Elementary School’s upcoming 1st anniversary on May 24.
On Monday, facing pressures about recent mass shootings, House Select Committee on Community Safety members voted on HB-2744, raising the age to buy semiautomatic rifles — AR-15, AK-47, etc. — from 18 to 21. Two Republicans joined Democrats, 8 to 5 vote to advance to bill after it languished for months. The Austin American-Statesman wrote: HB-2744 passed “hours before the key legislative deadline.”
“As the vote was announced in the Capitol hearing room, the parents of several Uvalde mass shooting victims [and] many gun control advocates burst into sobs and cheers.” Kimberly Garcia told reporters she was “feeling very overwhelmed, very emotional.” Garcia’s 10-year-old daughter, Amerie Jo Garza, was among the 19 fourth graders killed at Robb Elementary School in Uvalde.
PBS reported Republican Gov. Greg Abbott does not support the legislation. Moreover, Republican State Rep. Ryan Guillen, the committee chair, voted against HB-2744 and stated the measure does not have adequate support in the Legislature.
After the bill passed yesterday, Democrat State Senator Roland Gutierrez told MSNBC’s Joy Reid: “I think that we’ve all just had enough with the prayers. We want common-sense gun laws.” Referring to the bill, “Sadly, I don’t think it’s going anywhere. We need to stop praying, then we need to start doing something.”
Mass Shooting Epidemic in America
Praying for bereaved family members and friends is appropriate. But, prayers should not stop there. Instead, pray for the nation’s lawmakers to create laws protecting the public and gun owners.
However, with near-daily mass shootings in the United States without Congressional action, Americans want to know how many children need to die at the hands of a gunman before Congress passes meaningful, common-sense gun safety laws.
“We want to get something done because that’s what the citizenry across this state and the nation deserve. We’re living in a state of chaos right now, which has been wholly created by Greg Aboot, Dan Patrick, and others,” Rep. Gutierrez said. In fact, over the past decade, Texan lawmakers created the lax system making the state number two on the highest mass shootings list after California.
Finally, the AR-15 inventor. Eugene Stoner passed away before its popularity among modern gun enthusiasts. His family finally spoke out against civilians using the weapon. “Our father, Eugene Stoner, designed the AR-15 and subsequent M-16 as a military weapon to give our soldiers an advantage over the [Russian-made] AK-47. He died long before any mass shootings occurred. But, we do think he would have been horrific and sickened as anyone, if not more by these events,” the Stoner family told NBS News on June 16, 2016.
Written by Cathy Milne-Ware
Sources:
Austin American-Statesman: ‘Raise the age’ gun bill passes out of committee after months of advocacy by Uvalde families; by Niki Griswold
PBS: Stalled gun violence bill advances in Texas after latest mass shootings; by Jim Vertuno
Forbes: Texas Lawmakers Advance Gun Control Bill Amid Wave Of Mass Shootings; by Molly Bohannon
NBC News: Family of AR-15 Inventor Eugene Stoner: He Didn’t Intend It for Civilians; by Tony Dokoupil
Featured and Top Image by Scott Butner Courtesy of Flickr – Creative Commons License
Inset Image by Dick Clark Courtesy of Flickr – Creative Commons License
