Gun Control: Why Greg Abbott Refused a Debate Audience
The Governor Won’t Budge On Gun Control — But He Could
The emperor — the Texas governor — has no clothes. That’s why he set a precondition to face his challenger, Democrat Beto O’Rourke, in their first and likely only Texas gubernatorial debate ahead of the midterms: no audience.
Clearly, Abbott can’t face his constituents, especially the families of the 19 children and their two teachers who were shot dead, some beyond recognition, at Robb Elementary School in Uvalde, TX last May. Because when it comes to preventing shooting massacres, the Governor is bare-assed and he knows it.
The Problem With Greg
Despite six mass shootings in Texas under his governorship, Abbott has expanded, not restricted gun laws. He’s resorted instead to “hardening” schools — a move that failed in Uvalde.
Uvalde families say he’s ignored their request for an emergency legislative session to raise the age limit for purchasing assault-style rifles from 18 to 21. It was, after all, an 18-year-old that legally bought two AR-style rifles, and used one in Robb Elementary in what became the deadliest and most horrific school shooting in Texas history.
“It’s been 18 weeks since their kids have been killed and not a thing has changed in this state to make it any less likely any other child will meet the same fate,” Beto said in the debate, echoing the families’ position. “All we need is action — and the only thing standing in our way is the governor.”
Abbott responded with the same position he’s been hiding behind since Uvalde: that his hands are tied because federal courts have ruled it unconstitutional to put an age limit on buying guns. “We want school shootings to end, but we cannot do that by making false promises,” he said.
Legal Acrobatics: Guns vs. Abortions
Abbott’s not wrong, technically. The US Supreme Court ruled in June that gun licenses are unnecessary because the Second Amendment guarantees the right to carry firearms publicly or privately. Then, in August, a federal court in Fort Worth, TX quashed a Texas law that barred young adults 18–20 from obtaining gun licenses, saying the Second Amendment doesn’t specify age limits.
But, let’s remember that it was Abbott and his like-minded Texas legislators that turned legal somersaults to beat Roe and pass a law that effectively bans all abortions after six weeks, the only exception being the mother’s safety. Senate Bill 8 — a.k.a. the bounty hunter law — allows private citizens to sue anyone who provides, or assists in, an abortion for at least $10,000. That means doctors, transporters, and friends who gift money or lodgings can be sued. Thankfully, patients can’t be sued. At least there’s that.
SB8 is ingenious because such civil suits dodge the constitutional challenges that state actions like an arrest or state prosecution would face in court. Evil, but ingenious.
So is this evil genius really saying he can’t figure out a way to protect babies and children outside the womb? Please.
I Suggest The Following Clothing For Abbott:
· He could stop passing laws that make firearms so absurdly accessible. In 2021, Abbott signed seven bills — that’s seven — into law in one session to “build a barrier around gun rights in Texas.” Under the most controversial of those laws, which even police leaders objected to, Texans can carry firearms without a permit.
· He could flush out the type of arms the Constitution is referring to. The Second Amendment doesn’t define “arms” as military-style weapons like AK-47s, AR-15s, or grenades. In fact, it doesn’t define “arms” at all, just as it doesn’t specify age. What’s stopping the Governor from limiting those weapons to police and military use?
· He could actually fulfill his tired mantra “to do better in mental health,” as he promised after the massacres in Uvalde, Sante Fe, and El Paso. Abbott himself slashed Texas’s already ailing mental health budget by $211 million just before Uvalde, and has only just started replenishing it. How hard is it to put his — actually, tax-payers — money where his mouth is?
· He could grow a pair and stand up to the NRA and gun-rights hardliner, Texas Lt-Gov. Dan Patrick, and pass commonsense laws that most Americans, even Texans, support like universal background checks and red flag laws.
· And, he can hold the damn emergency session the Uvalde families have been demanding, to pass just one gun restriction, compared to the seven eased restrictions he helped pass in 2021.
To quote Beto in the debate, “We need change.”
