Advertisement

Fort Worth school board asks Texas governor to call special session for new gun laws

The Fort Worth school board passed a resolution Tuesday asking Gov. Greg Abbott to call for a special legislative session to pass “common sense” gun law policies to protect students from mass shootings.

The resolution comes nearly a month before the students return to classrooms and nearly two months after 19 students and two teachers were killed in a Uvalde elementary school.

The massacre is the deadliest school shooting in Texas history and the state’s eighth mass shooting in 13 years. During that time, state legislators have relaxed gun regulations.

Calls for a special session have come from Tarrant and Dallas County commissioners, a bipartisan coalition of Texas mayors and most Democratic state legislators.

The resolution said that although three special sessions have been called since the end of the 87th Texas Legislature, not one has focused on preventing mass shootings and gun violence.

“[The] Legislature has the power to protect our children from mass shootings and senseless gun violence by implementing common sense reforms,” the resolution said.

Since the shooting, Abbott has requested to form special committees to examine “school safety and mass violence” but has not called for a special session.

The majority of public speakers at the Tuesday board meeting said they did not support the resolution, some calling it a political stunt while others saying the district should focus primarily on school security.

“We obviously need to keep our schools locked,” said Meredith Bowman, a teacher at Tanglewood Elementary.

Parent Mindia Whittier said she supports the resolution and said arming teachers and increasing police presence would negatively impact equity in schools.

“When has more police presence benefited Black and brown communities?” she said.

The board passed the resolution 7-1, with District 7 trustee Michael Ryan abstaining from the vote. District 9 trustee Roxanne Martinez was absent from the meeting.

District 6 trustee Anne Darr said that before the school year begins, she wants to see a report from district leadership regarding what has been done over the summer to ensure that students are going to be safer.

Last month, the district approved the formation of a Safety and Security Committee.