LATEST TEXAS MASS SHOOTING- The gunman who killed 19 elementary school children and two adults in Uvalde, Texas added to the state's grim recent history of mass shootings. More than 85 people have been killed in five of Texas' worst mass shootings since 2017. The victims have included worshippers at a church, shoppers at a Walmart, and drivers on a highway. Republican Gov. Greg was at an unrelated news conference in Abilene after he heard about the shooting.
"When parents drop their kids off at school they have every expectation to know that they're going to be able to pick their child up when that school day ends and there are families who are in mourning right now and the state of Texas is in mourning with them for the reality that these parents are not going to be able to pick up their children", Abbott said.
Abbott had no immediate mention after Tuesday's shooting about how or whether Texas would respond to this latest mass shooting on a policy level. But since Abbott became governor in 2015, the state has only gotten more relaxed when it comes to gun laws. In 2021, Texas legislators passed “Constitutional (Permitless) Carry HB-1927” law which allows anyone 21 years or older with a clean criminal record to openly carry a handgun in public with few restrictions. Governor Abbott signed the bill into law last June along with other gun-friendly laws that prohibit state and local governments from enforcing new federal gun rules.
