Less than a week after eight people were killed in a mass shooting at Allen Premium Outlets, students staged walkouts throughout the state of Texas to protest the inaction on gun safety legislation.
The walkouts come as the Texas legislature is slowly winding down towards Sine Die, and no gun safety laws look like they will pass. While a bill that would raise the age from 18 to 21 to buy certain firearms passed through a committee, it failed to make it to the larger House calendar. In September 2021, permitless carry went into effect in Texas, allowing anyone over the age of 21 to carry a handgun in public without a permit.
Many of the walkouts occurred in North Texas, just miles away from Allen. About 100 students marched outside Bishop Dunne Catholic School in Texas. Another walkout happened at Hillcrest High School. In San Antonio, students who walked out of their school gathered in front of City Hall. They were joined by several members of the city council and Mayor Ron Nirenberg.
The nonprofit Students Demand Action organized rallies and protests throughout the country. They are also working alongside Moms Demand Action to rally for an assault weapons ban on Saturday, May 13.
Gun Safety legislation is broadly popular with the public. A poll from Fox News recently showed that 77 percent of Americans believe in a thirty-day waiting period to purchase a firearm. In Texas, 72 percent of Texans support red flag laws according to the University of Texas.
On May 24, the state will make the one-year anniversary of the shooting at Robb Elementary School in Uvalde that left nineteen students and two teachers dead.
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