September 04, 2019

Texas loosens gun laws hours after mass shooting

topic:	Security
located:	USA
editor:	Yair Oded

A series of laws softening restrictions on gun-access went into effect in Texas, just hours after a gunman murdered seven and injured at least 21 people in the state’s second mass-shooting this month. 

The laws, which were passed by Texas’ majority-led Republican legislator and then signed by the state’s pro-gun governor Greg Abbott, loosen restrictions from gun owners and make it significantly easier to carry firearms in schools, private apartment buildings, and places of worship. 

Law HB 1143, for instance, nullifies school districts’ regulations on how licensed gun owners may store their weapon in vehicles or school parking lots. Law HB 1387 removes restrictions on how many faculty and staff members can be designated as ‘armed school marshals’ and carry ammunition on school grounds. 

Additionally, SB 535 disqualifies places of worship from being off-limit zones for guns, and stipulates that official notice must be presented for them to legally ban guns from their property. 

Law HB 302 dictates that management companies and landlords will not be allowed to prohibit their tenants and residents from storing rifles in their apartments and law HB 2363 drastically loosens restrictions on carrying firearms in foster homes. 

Just as disturbing is law HB 1177, which enables Texas residents to carry firearms without a license for a whole week after a declared state of disaster (except from people who are prohibited by law from carrying a gun). 

Despite the fact that 4 out of the 10 deadliest mass-shootings in modern U.S. history occurred in its territory, Texas is still home to a thriving gun lobby, which exerts its influence over the state legislature. Gov. Abbott himself has, on more than one occasion, proven himself to be enthusiastically in favor of gun proliferation and has urged an increase in private gun ownership among his constituents. 

Defending the passing of the new laws, Gov. Abbott claimed that the majority of them were instituted in order to increase public safety, and rejected the connection between increased gun-access and rising trends of mass shootings. He also spoke out against legislation restricting access to assault rifles, arguing that handguns can be just as deadly at the hands of a killer.

Naturally, the passing of the laws and their defense by the Republican Governor drew visceral criticism from citizens as well as gun-laws activists and Democratic lawmakers. The backlash to the laws was particularly powerful due to the fact that they passed merely hours after a gunman shot at random at least 21 people, killing 7 and injuring an additional 25 in the towns of Odessa and Midland, Texas. Just four weeks before, a man carrying an assault rifle killed 22 people and injured 27 more at a Walmart in El Paso, Texas. 

In an interview for CNN, Kris Brown, president of Brady - an NGO advocating for gun reforms - stated that, “Many states took the opportunity in the last two years to learn lessons from the tragedies in Las Vegas, Sutherland Springs, Parkland, and the everyday gun violence that plagues our citizens, and enacted new laws to protect public safety through expanded background checks and extreme risk laws… Texas lawmakers, instead ... doubled down on an NRA-led agenda to encourage guns everywhere, no matter the risks and costs to safety.”

Applying counter-pressure against the National Rifle Association (NRA) and politicians who rely on its financial support is imperative in order to tackle the wave of gun-violence in America. Such entities utilise the ongoing carnage in order to drum up paranoia and convey the rationale that gun violence can only be tackled by the proliferation of guns as a means of protection. This is a blatant lie, and it has been scientifically proven that more guns lead to more crime. 

Serious attention must also be given to the core root of the problem, which arguably has to do with mental health and a widespread, growing sense of distress that plagues our society. That, however, must be done in conjunction with the enactment of strict gun reforms, which could only take place once big interest groups are restricted from funneling endless amounts of cash into the pockets of power-hungry politicians. 

Image: Mario Tama/Getty Images   

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