Giffords Reacts to the Release of Governor Abbott’s Texas Safety Action Report

September 12, 2019

September 12, 2019 — Giffords , the gun violence prevention organization led by former Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords, released the following statement in reaction to Governor Abbott’s recently released Texas Safety Action Report.

Peter Ambler, Giffords Executive Director:

“The governor’s report falls short on addressing the realities of gun violence in Texas. Texas needs leaders who have the courage to stand up to the gun lobby and enact strong lifesaving policies including universal background checks. Keeping Texas families and communities safe from gun violence requires meaningful action and solutions. This report lacks both.”

Recently, Giffords Law Center to Prevent Gun Violence released a report, Gun Laws and Violence in Texas , detailing why Texas has become a place where someone is killed by a gun every three hours and providing a detailed blueprint on laws the state could pass to save lives. Without action, this crisis is only expected to get worse. As the report notes, data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention shows that the state’s gun murder death rate has increased every year since 2014.

Last month, Giffords also launched Texas Gun Owners for Safety. At a roundtable, a coalition of Texas hunters, sports shooters, and collectors announced they are coming together to advocate for commonsense gun violence prevention laws and promote safe and responsible gun ownership.

The state’s dangerous gaps in gun laws resulted in an ‘F’ score in the most recent Giffords Law Center Annual Gun Law Scorecard. That ranking makes them worse than 33 other states—two-thirds of the nation.

The state’s ranking is so low because, among other reasons, background checks are not required to buy a firearm, domestic abusers can buy and keep guns even after being convicted of serious crimes, and dangerous military-style weapons are easily accessible.

Building a Safer Future

If Governor Abbott is serious about addressing gun violence, here are eight evidence-based policies he should support:

PASS UNIVERSAL BACKGROUND CHECKS: Texas should pass a law requiring a background check on every gun sale, unless an individual is receiving the gun as a gift from a close family member. Across the United States, an estimated 22% of gun owners acquired their most recent firearm without a background check—which translates to millions of Americans acquiring millions of guns, no questions asked, each year.
ENACT EXTREME RISK PROTECTION ORDERS: Texas should pass an extreme risk law empowering family members, household members, and law enforcement officers to petition a court for an extreme risk order when they observe clear warning signs that an individual poses a risk to themselves or others. If, based on credible sworn evidence, the judge concludes that a person poses an extreme risk of violence, this law would direct the judge to issue a civil (non-criminal) court order temporarily suspending the respondent’s access to guns.
DISARM VIOLENT DOMESTIC ABUSERS, HATE CRIME OFFENDERS, AND OTHERS CONVICTED OF VIOLENT CRIMES: Texas should pass a law to prohibit people convicted of domestic abuse, hate crimes, and other criminal acts involving violence or the use or threatened use of firearms from purchasing guns.
STRENGTHEN PROTECTIONS AGAINST MILITARY-STYLE WEAPONS: Texas should pass laws placing reasonable limitations on the sale, manufacture, transfer, and possession of military-style weapons.
LIMIT YOUNG PEOPLE’S UNSUPERVISED ACCESS TO FIREARMS: Most school shooters are current or former students at the school they target, and most use firearms they obtained from a family member or neighbor or purchased themselves.
GIVE LAW ENFORCEMENT TOOLS TO CURB THE FLOW OF ILLEGAL GUNS ON THE BLACK MARKET: Texas should comprehensively strengthen its anti-trafficking laws.
INVEST IN LIFESAVING VIOLENCE INTERVENTION PROGRAMS TO BREAK THE CYCLE OF VIOLENCE: To interrupt entrenched cycles of shootings, injury, trauma, and retaliation, Texas should pass legislation to create and fund a competitive state grant program for effective violence intervention initiatives.
ALLOW LOCAL GOVERNMENTS TO ENACT GUN LAWS FITTING THE NEEDS OF THEIR COMMUNITIES: Texas should pass legislation empowering local city and county leaders to enact gun safety measures tailored to the needs of their individual communities.