Nelson/Photo by City of Amarillo
Amarillo Mayor Ginger Nelson signed an open letter to Greg Abbott published this morning calling for several gun control and reform measures.
The letter, published by the “Texas’ Big City Mayors” coalition, calls upon Governor Greg Abbott to call a special session of the state legislature. Specifically, the letter wants the legislature to pass the following measures:
Require universal background checks for gun purchases.
Increase the age to purchase assault weapons in Texas to 21.
Pass Red Flag laws to identify threats before shootings.
Significant increase in mental health support funding.
Train and properly resource school safety officers
The letter states that “protecting the 2nd Amendment means passing responsible policies that a wide majority of law-abiding gun owners support.” However, gun control measures such as those listed have already been met with opposition from gun rights groups and criminal justice advocates, who note that such proposals would likely be in violation of the first amendment and could possibly violate due process protections.
The mayors of Arlington, Austin, Corpus Christi, Dallas, El Paso, Fort Worth, Grand Prairie, Houston, Laredo, Plano, San Antonio, and Sugar Land joined Nelson in signing the letter.
View the full letter below:
