UVALDE, Texas – During a calmer meeting Tuesday evening, Uvalde City Council joined county commissioners and the Uvalde CISD school board in passing a resolution calling on Gov. Greg Abbott to call for a special session to change gun laws.
“Consider resolution asking Governor Greg Abbott to call his special session of the legislature to consider raising the minimum age of purchase semi-automatic assault rifles from 18 to 21,” Everardo “Lalo” Zamora, the mayor pro-tem, said during the meeting.
Uvalde city council meeting is about to begin. There are quilts and cards on each desk. They’re placed there from outside organizations hoping to provide comfort. Mayor Don McLaughlin is absent tonight @ksatnews pic.twitter.com/QEm2Z5IvAO
— Leigh Waldman (@LeighWaldman) July 26, 2022
One councilman expressed his skepticism about the resolution.
“It’s a symbolic-type thing. I really don’t think it’s worth the paper it’s written on,” said Hector R. Luevano, councilman for Uvalde’s District 2.
Luevano said he doesn’t think it will prompt Abbott to do anything.
“The massacre, the shooting happened in Uvalde on May 24, a Tuesday. That following Friday -- two, three days later, he was on the big screen addressing the NRA in Houston, Texas,” Luevano said.
Precinct 4 Uvalde County Commissioner Ronald Garza said he has faith in God and believes the governor will call for the special session.
“Texas is a pro-life state, but we should be a pro-all-life state. We should consider children, teachers, the elderly, and that’s very important. It’s a step, but I think it’s a step in the right direction,” Garza said.
Families of victims spoke during the meeting, still asking for accountability after the Robb Elementary School shooting.
Regardless if the age to purchase an assault-style rifle is raised to 21, Brett Cross, Uziyah Garcia’s guardian, said that’s not enough. He and several other parents of victims are asking for an all-out ban on those weapons.
“Do y’all know what a 10-year-old casket looks like? ‘Cause it’s not a pretty sight. These weapons need to go. They need to go,” Cross said.
KSAT 12 emailed Abbott’s office Tuesday evening after the city council meeting, asking if these resolutions would prompt a special session, but we have not gotten a response yet.
If a special session isn’t called, Garza said they’ll make their voices heard come January in the regular session.
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