Houston Police Chief: Politicians 'Not Doing Anything Other Than Offering Prayers' After Shootings
(CBSDFW.COM) - Houston Police Chief Art Acevedo appeared on CBS News' Face the Nation Sunday and talked about the need for elected officials to take action on gun reform after Friday's mass shooting at Santa Fe High School that killed 10 people and injured 13.
Acevedo also suggested penalties for gun owners who do not properly secure their guns at home after Texas Gov. Greg Abbott said the suspected shooter, 17-year-old Dimitrios Pagourtzis, used guns that his father legally owned.
Acevedo slammed state and federal officials who are offering nothing but prayers after these shootings.
"Let me tell you, people at the state and the federal level in too many places in our country are not doing anything other than offering prayers," Acevedo said on Face the Nation. "We need to start using the ballot box and ballot initiatives to take the matters out of the hands of people that are doing nothing that are elected into the hands of the people to see that the will of the people in this country is actually carried out."
Acevedo added that "local governments are starting to make a difference" by mentioning the work of Houston Mayor Sylvester Turner as "transformative."
In a Facebook post that went viral, Acevedo said he "hit rock bottom" and "shed tears of sadness, pain and anger" after the Santa Fe High School shooting.
Acevedo on Sunday said one policy that should be considered is stronger laws for proper security of guns in private homes. Gov. Abbott said the suspect used a shotgun and a .38-caliber revolver which his father legally owned. Abbott said he didn't know whether the father was aware that his son used the weapons.
"If you have firearms in your home and you do not secure them and you don't secure them in a manner that can preclude someone from grabbing them and taking them and carrying out this carnage, [there] is a criminal liability that attaches," Acevedo suggested. "I believe that anyone that owns a firearm that doesn't secure it properly [and it] ends up in the wrong hands and used to kill innocent people, that that should carry some significant consequences. We need to think about that on the national level across this country."