Gutierrez calls on Abbott to call for special session on gun violence; blame game continues to spin around mass shootings

SAN ANTONIO (KTSA News) — A San Antonio area state representative says it is time for Texas Gov. Greg Abbott to call a special session to address mass shootings.

Rep. Roland Gutierrez — whose district covers parts of south and southeast San Antonio, China Grove, Schertz, Converse, Universal City and Live Oak — told KTSA News Monday the state failed to act after shootings in Sutherland Springs and Santa Fe the past few years.

“Enough is enough,” Gutierrez said in an interview.  “We enhanced people’s access to weapons rather than limit people’s access to weapons.  It’s high time that we do something.”

He said despite having hearings on gun violence in schools, the representative stated nothing had been done.

“We went into the legislative session and nothing was done.”

What that ‘something’ is is not completely clear, but the Democrat said the conversation has to start somewhere.

“We have to do something about these high capacity rounds,” Gutierrez listed.  “We have to do something about the kind of weaponry that people have access to.  We certainly have to do something about mental health.”

He said he wants gun advocates to be at the table for ideas on how to limit access of weapons to those who should not have them.

Additionally, Gutierrez said he has been talking to the Department of Public Safety about the racial aspects of the attack in El Paso.

“I spoke to the head of DPS and we are looking at creating a task force that would go out and try and track some of the white supremacist groups in a meaningful way,” the Democrat stated.

Who or what to blame for the attacks in El Paso and in Dayton, Ohio, continues to be a political hot point for people on all sides of the issue.

Many on one front blame guns and their proliferation for making it easier for those steadfast in a mass murder to follow through on it.

Others place the blame on mental health issues or lack of care and attention to how people are behaving ahead of these killings.

And now, the media, social media and video games are being added to the pile of blame.

Earlier Monday, the president called on Congress to come up with ideas to better address these types of crime in the country.

Even with that message, his contrarians — like former El Paso congressman Beto O’Rourke, who is one of a few handfuls of Democrats challenging President Donald Trump — point their finger at the president, adding to the long list of supposed blame to go around for the dozens killed by two unrelated and unconnected madmen.