Texans have both a constitutional right to keep and bear arms and a legitimate expectation that their families will be safe. A governor has a responsibility to protect both liberty and public safety without sacrificing either.
On May 30, 2018, in the aftermath of the Santa Fe High School shooting, Greg Abbott asked legislative leaders to consider the merits of a “red flag” law that would allow a court to temporarily remove firearms from someone deemed dangerous. In 2019, following the mass shootings Odessa and the Walmart in El Paso, Abbott focused instead on measures such as improving threat reporting, mental health responses, and information sharing.
As a candidate for governor of Texas, these policies deserve serious consideration. As a Libertarian, I defend the ability to defend, hunt, compete, collect, and other uses of guns that do not initiate force. I confess I did not always have this belief. In high school I was a gun control advocate. I thought that it was so obvious that gun violence in the United States was an outlier, I took the side of gun control in a high school debate.
I have since heard the other side of the argument and have become more enlightened. However, I am not close minded. Gun violence seems to be a daily occurrence in streets and neighborhoods. I recognize that when parents send their kids to school, they don’t want them murdered.
The Uvalde school shooting is not that far removed from our experience. Would gun control have prevented it? The Uvalde case illustrated at least two problems that if they had not occurred might have mitigated the tragedy:
- I used to be a basketball official. In all my experience, when I arrived at a school I had to go through a main entrance in the administrative building or the gymnasium where there were people to direct me to the locker room. I could not open other doors to the school because they were locked. In the case of Uvalde, a teacher had briefly propped open a side door to the school while carrying items from her car. When she saw the gunman, she kicked the door shut and believed it had locked automatically. It did not. Had the exterior door locked as intended, the shooter would likely have encountered additional obstacles before entering the school. Investigators identified the unsecured door as one of several preventable failures that contributed to the tragedy.
- When law enforcement responded, there was no clear command structure. Nobody really knew who the officer in command was. This meant the response was delayed and uncoordinated. Is it possible some lives could have been saved with a better response? Multiple investigations concluded that the delayed and poorly coordinated law enforcement response likely cost lives. Clear command structures and active-shooter training should never be optional.
Not all the news is bad. Despite these horrific incidents and the murders that don’t get big headlines, since the surge in violence during 2020 and 2021, firearm homicide rates and many categories of violent crime involving firearms have declined significantly, although they remain above pre-pandemic levels. We might be doing something right.
Perhaps a good model is Switzerland, which has one of the lowest homicide rates in the developed world (about 10 times lower than the United States) while being among the countries with the highest civilian gun ownership rates in Europe. Switzerland demonstrates that widespread civilian gun ownership does not inevitably produce high homicide rates. At the same time, Switzerland differs from Texas in its laws, demographics, and institutions, so no single country’s experience provides a complete blueprint.
Regarding “red flag” laws, a primary concern is due process. Can I take your gun away just because you scare me? Under what circumstances should the government temporarily restrict a constitutional right before a crime has been committed, and what level of evidence should be required? On the other hand, if you had a neighbor that was provably crazy and violent with evidence that they were planning to use their weapons to kill innocent people, do you have to wait until the murders occur to act?
Much has been said about mental health. In some cases, crazy people get guns. Does Greg Abbott propose that every gun owner undergo annual mental health screening to get a gun permit? Mental illness is often discussed after mass shootings, but broad mental health screening of all gun owners would raise serious practical, constitutional, and privacy concerns. Policymakers should distinguish between treating mental illness generally and identifying individuals who pose a credible, imminent threat.
I admit that I am not a gun policy expert. I know people who are. As governor of Texas, I would recognize that the governor is not king and cannot impose policy on the Legislature. The Legislature writes the laws, and the governor’s responsibility is to lead, advocate, sign or veto legislation, and faithfully execute the laws that are passed. As a Libertarian, I will be open minded while defending the rights of law-abiding Texans to defend themselves, hunt, compete, collect, and enjoy other peaceful uses of firearms while supporting policies that hold criminals accountable and protect innocent people.