Texas lawmakers are meeting today in Austin to consider how to protect schools against gun violence. The hearing comes three weeks after the shooting at Santa Fe High School that killed 10 people and injured more than a dozen others. Efforts to curtail school shootings are also moving ahead in Houston.
Mayor Sylvester Turner’s Commission Against Gun Violence is working to come up with safety measures that can be put in place before the next school year starts.
Harris County Sheriff Ed Gonzalez is on the mayor’s commission. “This was already in the making for some time, so it wasn’t simply a response to Santa Fe,” Gonzalez says. “He’s concerned a lot about just everyday gun violence as well.”
The commission held its first meeting at the end of May. Sheriff Gonzalez says Mayor Turner has also directed the group to come up with a second round of recommendations by year end, in time to propose them to state lawmakers before the Legislature convenes in January.