Collin County parents urge lawmakers to pass gun reform bills in final days of session
AUSTIN (CBSNewsTexas.com) – With less than two weeks until the regular legislative session ends at the Texas Capitol, members of the group Collin County Parents Against Gun Violence said they are hoping they can still make a difference and convince lawmakers to pass gun reform bills.
One of the group's leaders, Ann Bacchus told CBS News Texas Monday, "If they don't support it, tell us why you don't support it and if you don't support it, tell us what you're going to do because our fears don't have deadlines, our concerns don't have deadlines. We're living this every single day."
Bacchus and nearly 50 other members of the group boarded a bus early Monday morning in Plano to head to the Capitol.
Once they arrived, they crowded into a conference room in the basement of the Capitol complex.
They met with a variety of lawmakers including Democratic Representative Victoria Neave Criado of Mesquite and Democratic Senator Roland Gutierrez, who represents Uvalde.
They recommended the residents keep the pressure on Republicans.
Another lawmaker who met the parents face to face is Republican Representative Jeff Leach, who represents Allen.
Leach told them that he's willing to work with them on potential solutions to the gun violence problem, which he agreed is an "emergency."
But Leach also told them he's a fierce supporter of the 2nd Amendment and that good people have a right to protect themselves.
The parents are demanding the Texas legislature pass five bills that would raise the age to 21 to buy an AR-style firearm, create universal background checks, require safe storage of guns, establish a three-day state waiting period, and implement red flag laws.
But because it's so late in the legislative session, the deadlines have already passed to approve these bills.
For parents to get legislation they want approved, lawmakers will need to try to file amendments onto other bills, and that's a very challenging process.
Iro Omere, a Democratic candidate for the 3rd Congressional District in Collin County last year, is a member of the group.
She said, "We want to make sure these last couple of days they do have in session that they maximize it by pushing the legislation that we've been calling for."
In response, Leach told parents, "Show me the bill, show me the law that we could have passed in this building that would have prevented what happened in Allen last Saturday. None of those laws would have stopped what happened."
Bacchus said many of their members have never been active in politics until now.
They vowed they're not giving up on this issue anytime soon and are in it for the long haul.
