Turner calls for special session

Mayor wants more flexibility to address gun control issues

Mayor Sylvester Turner on Wednesday said he wants state lawmakers to give cities and counties more flexibility to address gun violence in response to mass shootings this month that killed 31 people, including 22 in El Paso.

Turner made the remarks at City Hall while calling for a special session of the Texas Legislature on the issue of gun violence.

Current state law mostly forbids local governments from passing measures that restrict gun usage.

Among the items Turner said he would like to pursue are background checks on firearms sales at gun shows, including those that have been held at the George R. Brown Convention Center.

“If I could do it today, I would do it today,” Turner told reporters. “But the state has preempted us.”

The request is unlikely to get approval from Gov. Greg Abbott, a staunch gun rights advocate who has sole power to convene state lawmakers outside of their regular, biennial sessions.

Abbott last week said he would not call a special session to respond to gun violence. Instead, the governor has announced a series of roundtable discussions to consider legislative approaches to address domestic terrorism and violence.

The governor’s office did not respond to a request for comment Wednesday.

Earlier this year, lawmakers from Texas’ three largest cities joined gun control advocacy groups in their opposition to House Bill 3231, which further curtailed municipalities’ ability to institute local gun control measures. The bill later became

law.

In March, Turner announced the city was establishing a task force to combat local gun violence. Houston Police Chief Art Acevedo has been an outspoken advocate for stricter gun laws, telling Congress earlier this year that gun violence is “one of the greatest public health epidemics facing the nation.”

Turner also allocated $1 million for police overtime pay in April to help officers fight gun violence.

Turner’s comments Wednesday echo those made last week by Harris County Judge Lina Hidalgo, who floated the idea of ending the use of county property for gun shows. The county, however, has no power to enact ordinances.

Hidalgo said Wednesday she is working with Turner on a proposal to take “whatever action we can.”

“We are hamstrung by the legislature. They have passed laws specifically preventing us from making policy around gun safety,” Hidalgo said. “We’re really looking under every nook and cranny for what can be done.”

Dru Stevenson, a law professor at South Texas College of Law Houston, said the state’s lock on local action largely is absolute.

“The state preempts municipalities from having any type of gun control regulation at all,” Stevenson said.

Even Hidalgo’s idea about ending use of county buildings for gun shows likely would not pass muster, according to Stevenson, due to how strict the state preemptions are.

“They’re more likely to get away with it informally than if

they adopt a policy,” he said. “Behind the scenes pressure or incentives might work, but the gun shows are big and lucrative for the conference centers.”

Houston city council in 1993 discussed an ordinance to ban gun shows from its facilities and the George R. Brown Convention Center, but backed off under pressure from gun enthusiasts. The council did impose new rules on gun shows at city facilities, including a requirement that the firing pin be removed from guns or that the weapons are rendered unusable by safety locks. Show promoters also were required to obtain a $5 million insurance policy in case of accidental shootings.

There are other measures local leaders can take. Stevenson said an outreach program in Oakland, Calif., has proven successful at helping to curb gun violence.

That effort, a joint approach from city government and community leaders, included an offer to hold mediation sessions for rival gang factions, Stevenson said.

Local leaders also could also bolster enforcement of restraining orders in which courts restrict defendants’ access to guns, Stevenson said.

Turner said he hopes the public will pressure lawmakers to adopt expanded background checks and other initiatives in the wake of recent mass shootings.

“I’m hoping that what took place in El Paso and what took place in Dayton (Ohio) were game changers that tipped the scale, and I hope that people will hold all of us as elected officials and leaders accountable,” he said.