Texas gov holds first in series of school safety discussions in wake of shooting

AUSTIN, Texas — Texas Gov. Greg Abbott convened the first in a series of discussions on school safety yesterday, declaring in response to last week’s shooting near Houston, “We all want guns out of the hands of people who would try to murder our children.”

The governor called the meetings after the attack on Santa Fe High School, where eight students and two teachers were slain Friday in an art classroom. The initial gathering involved school districts that arm some teachers or hire local police for security.

Abbott planned to talk today with gun-rights advocates and gun-control groups, followed tomorrow by meetings with survivors of the school shooting and the November assault on a rural church that killed more than two dozen worshippers in the village of Sutherland Springs.

The Republican governor has been a staunch supporter of gun rights, and there has been little mention of any new weapons restrictions in Texas, where more than 1.2 million people are licensed to carry handguns and state law allows for the open carrying of rifles. The state’s top GOP leaders have instead called for “hardening” school campuses and arming more teachers.

“Every time there’s a shooting, everyone wants to talk about what the problem is,” Abbott said before the meeting was closed to the media. “By now, we know what the problem is. The problem is innocent people are being shot. That must be stopped.”

The Santa Fe gunman used a handgun and a shotgun that were owned by his father, police have said. It’s unclear whether the suspect’s father was aware that his son had taken the weapons.

“The reality is we all want guns out of the hands of people who would try to murder our children. The question is, what are we, the leaders of Texas, going to do to prevent this from happening again?” the governor said.