Houston police chief calls for gun control

After shooting, Acevedo says he’s ‘hit rock bottom’ with inaction

The head of one of the largest police departments in Texas says he has had enough with inaction on gun control.

In the hours after a mass shooting at a Texas high school, Houston Police Chief Art Acevedo posted a lengthy explanation on Facebook about gun rights and the need for change.

“I know some have strong feelings about gun rights but I want you to know I’ve hit rock bottom and I am not interested in your views as it pertains to this issue,” he wrote. “I have never accepted the status-quo in anything I do and I’ve never accepted defeat. And I won’t do it now.”

Friday’s attack at Santa Fe High School is only the latest high-profile act of violence in the state. In November, 26 people were killed during a church service in the small town of Sutherland Springs.

On Friday, 10 people, mostly students, were killed while sitting in class.

“I will continue to speak up and will stand up for what my heart and my God commands me to do, and I assure you he hasn’t instructed me to believe that gun rights are bestowed by him,” Acevedo said.

He added that he’d spent the day dealing with the shooting at Santa Fe High School, which is about 35 miles from Houston – seeing children die and an officer clinging to life after being shot in the attack – and asked that people please not say “anything about guns aren’t the problem and there’s little we can do.”

“I’m not ashamed to admit I’ve shed tears of sadness, pain and anger,” he wrote. “This isn’t a time for prayers, and study and inaction, it’s a time for prayers, action and the asking of God’s forgiveness for our inaction (especially the elected officials that ran to the cameras today, acted in a solemn manner, called for prayers, and will once again do absolutely nothing).”

Texas is known for its gun-friendly laws, including the right to carry handguns openly for any law-abiding residents 18 and older who have taken a safety course and obtained a permit.

Last year, just before the church shooting, the state lowered the application fees for handgun licenses from $140 to $40.

The law also allows applicants to take its safety classes online, instead of a classroom, in addition to at least one hour of shooting range instruction before taking a shooting test.

Texans are allowed to carry shotguns and rifles openly with the exceptions of certain areas where it is expressly forbidden, such as bars and some schools, though a campus carry law allows licensed students to carry a concealed weapon on a school’s campus.