DON’T FORGET: Today’s shooting in Odessa comes on the eve of weakened gun laws going into effect in Texas.
Effective Sept. 1, it will be easier for Texans to carry handguns in churches, schools, apartments and disaster zones. #EnoughIsEnough @JohnCornyn https://t.co/R4t1O3j6AY
— Kris Brown (@KrisB_Brown) September 1, 2019
The quote of the day is presented by Guns.com
A raft of new laws expanding gun rights including school marshals, weapons in apartments, carrying a handgun after a natural disaster and concealed carry in churches were already set to go into effect in Texas today. And after the Odessa shooting yesterday, the news media and the gun control industry are having a collective aneurism about it.
The shooting came exactly two weeks after a gunman opened fire further west in the state at a Walmart shopping center in El Paso. After Saturday’s mass shooting, a number of politicians responded by calling for stronger gun restrictions and national gun reform, a common refrain after mass shootings in recent months.
But the state of Texas has instead gone the other direction. As KSATreported, the Texas Legislature had passed a number of laws set to go into effect on September 1 that loosen restrictions on guns, allowing firearms in more public places like schools and churches. The laws were passed with the support of the National Rifle Association, which said the passage of these laws was “highly successful,” even as groups aimed at ending gun violence warned that they would make schools and communities less safe.
As KSAT noted, – in a report published before the mass shooting in Odessa – the Texas Legislature has responded to mass shootings at a church in Sutherland Springs and a high school in Santa Fe by loosening restrictions on guns, even as other states have called for more restrictions in the wake of other mass shootings. That included laws allowing more teachers to carry guns in schools.
– Nathan Francis in Just Hours After Mass Shooting In Odessa, State Of Texas Introduces 12 New Laws Loosening Gun Restrictions
