Update:
Updated at 5:02 p.m. with new information throughout.
No gun control after Allen mall mass shooting, Gov. Abbott tells Fox News
Texas doesn’t appear poised to pass tougher gun laws as the legislative session nears end.
By Allie Morris
AUSTIN — Gov. Greg Abbott rejected the need for gun control and instead emphasized the importance of mental health funding in an interview on Sunday about the mass shooting at an Allen shopping mall.
Fox News Sunday host Shannon Bream presented the governor with a recent poll that found overwhelming support for expanding gun buyer background checks, raising the age to buy a firearm and flagging people who are a danger to themselves.
Abbott, a third-term Republican, did not endorse any of the measures. Instead, he said Texas lawmakers are looking to further penalize people who illegally possess guns and pump more money into mental health programs.
VIDEO: Community members mourn the loss of victims of Allen outlet mall shooting
Community members including Allen mayor mourn the loss of victims during a vigil at Cottonwood Creek Church
“We are working to address that anger and violence by going to its root cause, which is addressing the mental health problems behind it,” he said. “People want a quick solution. The long-term solution here is to address the mental health issue.”
Eight people were killed and at least seven more were injured when a gunman opened fire at Allen Premium Outlets on Saturday. The Texas Department of Public Safety confirmed in a news release late Sunday the assailant was 33-year-old Mauricio Garcia. Authorities have not released a possible motive.
The shooting promises to jump-start the debate over gun control bills in the waning days of a legislative session where Republicans have shown little appetite for such measures, despite aggressive lobbying by parents whose children died in the Uvalde mass shooting last year.
A bill sought by the families to raise the age to buy AR-style rifles from 18 to 21 is languishing in a House committee where it has not been brought up for a vote. The deadline for the bill to advance is next week.
On social media, Democrats laid blame for Saturday’s shooting on lax state gun laws.
Sen. Roland Gutierrez, a Democrat who represents Uvalde, said on Twitter that he’s disgusted Abbott and Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick “have done NOTHING to keep us safe” from gun violence.
Texas House Democratic Caucus Chairman Trey Martinez Fischer urged lawmakers to use the rest of session to “find a common cause and common solution to prevent the next mass shooting.”
“The time to act is now,” Martinez Fischer said in a written statement.
Rep. Justin Holland, a Rockwall Republican, said too little is known about the Allen shooter “to determine what, if anything, could have prevented this atrocity.”
“You can’t legislate evil,” Holland said on Twitter.
VIDEO: Witness describes shooting at Allen Premium Outlets
Danna Flores, 10, describes what her family heard when shots rang out at the Allen Premium Outlets on Saturday.
Houston Rep. Jarvis Johnson disagreed, saying a common theme has united mass shooters in Texas. “They all used assault-style weapons and massacred innocent people,” Johnson, a Democrat, posted on social media.
Police have not released information about the type of gun used in the shooting. But in photos of the scene circulating online, a rifle is seen next to the body of a man dressed in tactical gear who is believed to be the gunman.
Since Abbott took office in 2015, there have been a number of high profile mass shootings in churches, schools and shopping centers across the state.
After the Santa Fe school shooting in 2018, Abbott floated a raft of gun policies, including red-flag laws that temporarily remove firearms from people considered a danger to themselves or others. He retreated amid backlash from conservatives and gun rights groups.
Following later mass shootings that killed 23 in El Paso, seven in Midland and 21 in Uvalde, Abbott shied away from gun control and instead oversaw a loosening of state firearm laws. Last session, the GOP-led Legislature eliminated the need for a license or training to carry a loaded handgun in public places.
On Sunday, Abbott said tougher gun laws haven’t stopped mass shootings.
“We’ve seen an increased number of shootings in states with easy gun laws as well as states with very strict gun laws,” he said. “I think that the state in which the largest number of victims occurred this year is in California, where they have very tough gun laws.”
Texas has had the most mass shootings of any state in the country so far this year, according to data from the Gun Violence Archive, which defines a mass shooting as having at least four victims.
In California, which counts 10 million more people than Texas, there have been 91 people killed or injured in mass shootings this year, compared to 90 in the Lone Star State.
VIDEO: Car retrieval process begins after Allen Premium Outlets shooting
People were able to retrieve their cars after the mass shooting at the Allen Premium Outlets.
Attorney General Ken Paxton, a McKinney Republican, echoed Abbott’s sentiment in a separate interview on Fox News. Paxton said he doesn’t think “there’s any way to absolutely prevent all gun violence.”
He called for training law enforcement to respond and allowing law-abiding citizens to carry guns to protect themselves “so that we lessen the number of people that are injured or killed when some of these things happen.”
PHOTOS: Mourners pay tribute to victims of Allen Premium Outlets shooting
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