Joe Straus Letter in the Dallas News
Posted: Tue Aug 20, 2019 9:20 pm
For some reason I got this email from Joe Straus:
"Lionel Gutierrez was just driving his family to the movies in El Paso. But he's also a police officer who was off duty at the time of the terror attack of August 3, so when a stranger approached his car and told him what had happened, Gutierrez gave him a ride to the hospital and then went back to the scene to help others.
Army Pfc. Glendon Oakley Jr. ran toward the chaos when he was shopping that morning. He grabbed as many children as he could carry to safety because, he told a local TV station, that's what the military taught him.
The terrorism in El Paso, directed at the Latino community, painfully reminded us of the selflessness of many of our fellow Americans. Unsung heroes put themselves in harm's way to help others, labored for hours to save lives and donated blood from hundreds of miles away. None of this was surprising because it is who we strive to be as Texans. It's certainly not surprising to those of us who know El Paso to be a caring community that embraces its unique place in the story of American immigration.
But the El Paso attack also reminds us that our stock political responses to these tragedies are not enough.
First, we should not reflexively blame mental illness for mass shootings. Mental illness affects millions of people across our country, and we aren't doing enough to address it. But blaming mental illness for this kind of targeted violence needlessly stigmatizes those living with it and prevents us from addressing the deliberate hatred that appears to have motivated the El Paso shooter.
In fact, public cynicism is hardened when leaders try to blame mass shootings on everything except guns — from mental health to video games. Would stricter gun laws prevent all mass shootings? No. Should gun safety laws be part of the conversation? Yes. Should we blame mental illness or an easy scapegoat? We should not. Do we need to lead on combating the rise of domestic white supremacy? Absolutely.
It's encouraging that members of both parties, including the president, have voiced a desire to revisit gun laws. There should be an open dialogue with experts, stakeholders, and members of the public, and nothing should be off the table.
But discussion is not enough. Following the shooting at Santa Fe High School in 2018, I tasked members of the Texas House with studying red flag laws, but we did not see meaningful legislative debate or action in 2019. I still believe that legislators, law enforcement, mental health providers and Second Amendment advocates can find common ground.
It's also encouraging that Gov. Greg Abbott has announced a task force to combat domestic terrorism. Hatred and bigotry are taking root and bearing fruit in our country. It's a violent worldview that holds no equal place for immigrants, people of color or LGBTQ people, nor for Muslims, Jews and people of other faiths. In his announcement, Abbott called white nationalism and neo-Nazism by their names, a crucial step and a sign of true leadership.
The seriousness of this challenge requires moral credibility from all of our political leaders. The hyper-partisan insults that have become so common in politics make it near-impossible to build unity and address the extremism in our midst."
"Lionel Gutierrez was just driving his family to the movies in El Paso. But he's also a police officer who was off duty at the time of the terror attack of August 3, so when a stranger approached his car and told him what had happened, Gutierrez gave him a ride to the hospital and then went back to the scene to help others.
Army Pfc. Glendon Oakley Jr. ran toward the chaos when he was shopping that morning. He grabbed as many children as he could carry to safety because, he told a local TV station, that's what the military taught him.
The terrorism in El Paso, directed at the Latino community, painfully reminded us of the selflessness of many of our fellow Americans. Unsung heroes put themselves in harm's way to help others, labored for hours to save lives and donated blood from hundreds of miles away. None of this was surprising because it is who we strive to be as Texans. It's certainly not surprising to those of us who know El Paso to be a caring community that embraces its unique place in the story of American immigration.
But the El Paso attack also reminds us that our stock political responses to these tragedies are not enough.
First, we should not reflexively blame mental illness for mass shootings. Mental illness affects millions of people across our country, and we aren't doing enough to address it. But blaming mental illness for this kind of targeted violence needlessly stigmatizes those living with it and prevents us from addressing the deliberate hatred that appears to have motivated the El Paso shooter.
In fact, public cynicism is hardened when leaders try to blame mass shootings on everything except guns — from mental health to video games. Would stricter gun laws prevent all mass shootings? No. Should gun safety laws be part of the conversation? Yes. Should we blame mental illness or an easy scapegoat? We should not. Do we need to lead on combating the rise of domestic white supremacy? Absolutely.
It's encouraging that members of both parties, including the president, have voiced a desire to revisit gun laws. There should be an open dialogue with experts, stakeholders, and members of the public, and nothing should be off the table.
But discussion is not enough. Following the shooting at Santa Fe High School in 2018, I tasked members of the Texas House with studying red flag laws, but we did not see meaningful legislative debate or action in 2019. I still believe that legislators, law enforcement, mental health providers and Second Amendment advocates can find common ground.
It's also encouraging that Gov. Greg Abbott has announced a task force to combat domestic terrorism. Hatred and bigotry are taking root and bearing fruit in our country. It's a violent worldview that holds no equal place for immigrants, people of color or LGBTQ people, nor for Muslims, Jews and people of other faiths. In his announcement, Abbott called white nationalism and neo-Nazism by their names, a crucial step and a sign of true leadership.
The seriousness of this challenge requires moral credibility from all of our political leaders. The hyper-partisan insults that have become so common in politics make it near-impossible to build unity and address the extremism in our midst."
