Days after his 18th birthday in May, a high school dropout bought and then used an AR-15-style rifle to slaughter 19 children and two teachers in Uvalde. The massacre reinforced a desire by a majority of Texans to raise the age for purchasing rifles, a sensible gun safety measure that we also support.
There is no doubt that banning the sale of military-style weapons to people under age 21 will take political will. Gov. Greg Abbott indicated this week that he is not bold enough to pursue such a law, even as most Texans would support it.
“It is clear that the gun control law that they are seeking in Uvalde, as much as they may want it, has already been ruled to be unconstitutional,” Abbott told reporters on Wednesday.
The threat of lawsuits has not spooked state lawmakers from passing and Abbott from signing controversial laws on other matters that have attracted court scrutiny. So why the cold feet about guns?
We think the governor ought to at least tell Texans whether he agrees that young people under age 21 shouldn’t be allowed to buy long guns. There is a difference between unable and unwilling.
According to a recent Dallas Morning News-University of Texas at Tyler poll, which surveyed 1,384 voters across the state, 75% percent of Texans strongly or somewhat support raising the minimum age to buy an military-style rifle to 21. This includes 72% of Republicans in the state.
The poll shows that the majority also wants the governor to call a special session to have lawmakers consider legislation to address mass shootings.
Other states have accomplished the type of legislation that advocates in Uvalde are pushing for. Even Republican-led Florida requires buyers to be at least 21 to purchase some types of long guns.
This school year, children and teachers are walking into school campuses that are being hardened into fortresses, but gun-safety policies that could be more successful at keeping them safe are not on the table.
The threats to our children keep coming. Just this week, a 16-year-old was detained by police after a social media post that threatened violence at Frisco High School. The post that circulated among Frisco students showed a photo of a long gun.
An age restriction on purchasing rifles won’t endanger our Second Amendment. A majority of Texans think it makes sense, if only their political representatives listened.
In response to Uvalde, Sen. John Cornyn of Texas helped pass historic bipartisan legislation with modest measures to curb gun violence. Though the law did not go far enough, we recognize the political will it took for Cornyn to carry the legislation. The far right is making him pay for it, but we will all be safer because of Cornyn’s leadership.
We need Abbott to show the same fortitude for the people he governs. And if he won’t, he needs to at least be honest about what he thinks instead of hiding behind empty rhetoric.
