This week, there have been a number of mass shootings around the country. On Tuesday, families in Uvalde gathered to watch as Texas lawmakers introduced four new bills that would make gun laws stricter after the May shooting at Robb Elementary School.
State Sen. Roland Gutierrez, D-San Antonio, introduced bills that, if passed, would give survivors of school shootings the right to sue Texas state agencies, let Texas law enforcement officials be sued for their actions on the job, create a permanent fund to help victims of school shootings by taxing state gun sales, and get rid of the Protection of Lawful Commerce in Arms Act, a federal law that protects gun sellers and manufacturers from liability.
Gun reform isn’t likely to pass in Texas without the support of Republicans, who control both houses of the legislature and the governorship.
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Gutierrez told ABC News that none of the proposed bills have a Republican willing to co-sponsor them right now, but that all of them would eventually have similar bills in the Texas House of Representatives. “Most of these are issues that don’t care about party,” he said.
Gutierrez, who is the representative for Uvalde, said that the country needs to deal with its gun problems because the number of mass shootings keeps growing.
“When big tobacco companies market to kids, we can sue them, but we can’t sue big guns. It makes no sense, “Gutierrez said. “I don’t understand how that was ever passed, and I think my fellow Republicans will agree with me on this.”
In May of last year, an 18-year-old with a gun and an assault-style rifle went to Robb Elementary School in Uvalde, Texas, and killed 19 students and two teachers. It was the second worst school shooting in U.S. history, and it has led to several lawsuits against gun manufacturers.
Velma Duran, the sister of Irma Garcia, the teacher who was killed, and a former teacher at Robb Elementary, asked lawmakers to think about the proposed bills.
“I’m here to beg you to pay attention to these sensible gun laws that Americans, teachers, and kids need to live in peace,” Duran said. “Are you waiting until it happens to you or your family before you stop this blatant disregard?”
MORE: There have been more mass shootings than days in 2023, according to a database. Texas lawmakers filed more than 30 gun control bills before the 2022 legislative session, which was the first since the Robb Elementary School shooting. Other ideas include making the age you have to be to buy an assault rifle 21 instead of 18, putting in place “red flag” laws, and making all gun sales go through background checks.
“The age limit should be raised to 21 because it’s impossible to live with families being torn apart… A person who is only 18 should not be able to buy this kind of gun “The victim’s mother, Felicia Martinez, said on Tuesday,
“These laws need to be changed, and they need to be changed right now, not tomorrow “Martinez said.
Even though people from Uvalde are always trying to get gun laws changed, and many of them went to Washington, D.C., last year to lobby for a federal ban on assault weapons, Texas experts say it will be a hard fight.
Mark Jones, a professor of political science at Rice University in Houston, doesn’t think any gun control policy will become law this session.
Jones told ABC News that all of these ideas had been put forward. “None of it will happen.”
Jones said that most Republicans see proposed changes as a violation of their right to keep and bear arms, but in the Uvalde case, lawmakers have to deal with a hard truth.
“Uvalde is a hard issue for lawmakers because one of the most common-sense gun reforms, raising the age to buy an assault rifle from 18 to 21, could have stopped, if not the massacre itself, then at least the size of the massacre “Jones said.
Brandon Rottinghaus, a professor at Houston University, said that all the power is in the hands of the Republican majority, which is led by Lieutenant Governor Dan Patrick.
“The agenda in the state senate is set by Republicans. They choose the committees and decide what needs to be done first. So, they have a lot of power,” Rottinghaus said on ABC News.
“The way they talk about it, it’s not a gun issue, but a public safety issue. Anything that has to do with guns or putting limits on them is probably not going to pass “Rottinghaus said.
Others in the Legislature are already thinking about things other than gun laws and dealing with the political realities of a state that loves guns.
Representative Shawn Thierry, a Democrat who represents parts of south Houston, has proposed a number of bills to control guns and has also pushed for measures to make schools safer.
Thierry plans to introduce a bill that would require school districts to get things like electronic metal detectors and panic alert buttons to make schools safer places for students and teachers.
Thierry told ABC News, “These backstops will be needed even if we raise the legal age to buy guns to 21, even if we ban assault weapons, and even if we require background checks.” “These steps wouldn’t get rid of the need for more school safety.”
Thierry has also proposed a bill that would put a tax of 1,000% on buying an assault rifle. She says this idea could get support from both Republicans and Democrats in the chamber that they control.
