AUSTIN, Texas (AP) – Texas Gov. Greg Abbott is dismissing calls to hold an emergency legislative session on guns following a violent August that began and ended with mass shootings.
The Texas Legislature doesn’t meet again until 2021, which Democrats said Wednesday is too long to wait for new safeguards in the wake of mass shootings in El Paso and Odessa that killed 29 people.
Texas House Democrats held a press conference urging Abbott to call a special session to pass legislation to curb gun violence.
The group presented a letter signed by 63 House Democrats with a list of proposals:
- Enacting extreme risk protective order laws and closing existing loopholes in current protective order laws.
- Closing the background check loopholes.
- Banning the sale of high-capacity magazines.
- Limiting the open carry of certain semi-automatic long guns.
- Requiring stolen guns be reported to law enforcement
Only the governor can call a special session, and state Democratic lawmakers are trying to ratchet up pressure on Abbott after last weekend’s attack in West Texas that killed five people and injured dozens more.
But Abbott, an avid gun rights supporter, has resisted those calls. His spokesman says the solution isn’t dividing lawmakers on party-line votes and that legislating on tough issues takes time.
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