By Dave Workman
Editor-in-Chief
Democrats in Texas are attempting to use a June 11 shooting in Austin, during which one person was killed, to encourage Gov. Greg Abbott to veto legislation allowing permitless carry of firearms in the state, but the facts of this case show the individuals involved would not have been legally able to carry guns if the law were in effect because they’re not old enough.
According to the Austin American-Statesman, 13 people were wounded and one New York tourist was killed in the June 11 shooting.
The legislation now awaiting Abbott’s signature would allow people over the age of 21 who can legally have a gun in Texas to carry it without a permit. But the suspects are both well under that age. One is 17 and the other was described by the newspaper as “a juvenile.” They were already armed in violation of state statute, and couldn’t legally carry even if the permitless statute was in effect.
That fact didn’t stop State Rep. Vikki Goodwin (D-Austin), from trying to use the tragedy to discourage Abbott from signing the measure, which he previously promised to do.
In a letter to the governor, Goodwin wrote, “We cannot ignore the pattern of gun violence that we have seen again and again…While I realize that laws cannot singlehandedly keep guns out of the wrong hands, I also understand that they improve boundaries, create order and set a tone. We need you, as our governor, to send the message that we are addressing mass gun violence in Texas.”
In the same paragraph, Goodwin acknowledges, “Yes, criminals will break the law.”
The newspaper said Gov. Abbott has until Sunday to sign the bill. If he takes no action, the legislation “will automatically become law without his signature,” the story noted.
Another Austin Democrat, State Sen. Sarah Eckhardt, released a statement in which she stated, “For years, Texans have endured empty promises and pointless roundtables, while legislative session after legislative session produce more and more dangerous, unregulated gun laws.”
The important facts of this story are being overlooked by the media, and anti-gunners who simply do not want to see the state join the ranks of other states where permits are not required for carrying firearms in public. Critics of the legislation steadfastly ignore the fact that both suspects so far rounded up would not be legally able to carry, anyway because they are underage. As it was, they illegally possessed the gun(s) used in the June 11 shooting incident.
Spectrum News quoted a Republican lawmaker putting the shooting and the ongoing debate into perspective.
“It’s preposterously improbably that the gun law has anything to do with the shooting because it’s simply not signed into law yet,” State Sen. Paul Bettencourt observed.
