HOUSTON — There is growing sentiment for Governor Greg Abbott to call a special session to take action on gun control. And it's not just coming from Democrats.
Hundreds of Republican donors have joined the calls for tougher gun laws in Texas. 250 GOP donors wrote a letter which “endorses the creation of red-flag laws, expanding background checks and raising the age to purchase a gun to 21.“
On Monday, Abbott directed an active shooter training center “ALERRT” to provide training to all Texas school districts before the next school year.
Last week, he ordered safety reviews for all public schools.
But the governor, who is seeking a third term, is resisting the calls to bring lawmakers back in session and is instead taking executive action to respond to the Uvalde mass shooting.
KHOU 11’s political expert Bob Stein said it's all about the election.
“Why don’t they want a special session? I think the short answer is they do not want to bring attention to these terrible, terrible tragedies during the middle of an election campaign,” Stein said.
Meanwhile, the calls from mostly Democratic lawmakers continue to grow.
“We must demand action now, the governor has a responsibility to take action to protect our schools before that open again in August,” Rep. Gina Hinojosa said.
Many Texas voters agree that some changes are necessary.
“I think the governor should call a special session and I think the legislature should work on doing something meaningful in the way of gun control," Thomas Keef told us.
“Anything can be a weapon evil is evil, if someone wants to do evil they’re going to do evil no matter what you do — but I do think there’s some work that can be done,” Shane Carroll said.
“He should do something, but I don’t expect a lot from this particular governor,” Sharon Gibson said.
But meaningful legislation will likely have to wait.
“I don’t think the governor is going to look at, for instance, red flag -- taking guns away from people who clearly are suicidal, homicidal, and have a history of it or made threats, and I don’t see any of the other types of legislation that can come about here the second amendment is still a big obstacle to this,” Stein said.