Beto O'Rourke Slams Texas Gov. Abbott's Inaction On Gun Safety Since Uvalde

Joining us now is Beto O'Rourke, former Democratic congressman who's running for governor of Texas against the incumbent Republican governor, Greg Abbott. Congressman, good to see you. Thank you for being with us tonight. Thanks for having me. Your reaction to this. You and I, in fact, spoke right after the event in Uvalde, and at that time, we didn't have a tenth of the story that we have now. We knew the reality being that a gunman had killed these students and teachers. But I've never seen a story like this that changes so much, where the information is so inaccurate. And now we see this video that lays waste to the narratives that we were hearing from some of the police officers and officials in the days after the shooting. You know, I was just in Uvalde this past Sunday, and I had a chance to meet with many of these families, many of the parents who lost their kids, met with the children's brothers and sisters, met with the relatives of those two teachers who gave their lives trying to protect those children in their classroom. And to a person, they want the same things. They want to make sure that the memory of their children, of their family members is never lost. They want to make sure that there is justice to the point that you're making tonight, that the truth comes out, all of the truth and the facts, and that there's accountability at the end of the day for what people did and for what they failed to do. Those families have waited day after day, week after week, now more than a month later, and still nothing. And they're learning about it through the news media, one day at a time, one fact at a time, which is further exacerbating the suffering that they are feeling, the torment that they're going through right now. And the third thing they have all said to me is they don't want any other family to ever feel the way that they do now. They want action. They want changes. They want to make sure that our kids, all of our kids, are safe going back to school. In El Paso, my hometown, our kids will be returning to school in 17 days. That's when the El Paso Independent School District begins a new school year. And nothing, nothing has changed in this state since that shooting in Yevaldi, or since the shooting at Santa Fe High School, or since so many other school shooting or acts of gun violence in the state of Texas. The only thing the governor has done is to make it easier for people to carry guns publicly without a background check, without any training or any vetting whatsoever. What those families deserve right now is justice, and they deserve leadership. And all of us in Texas, and those of us who love Texas, need to stand up for those families right now and fight for them until we get them what they deserve. So two things have changed since that shooting. One is that there's been some movement, albeit modest, at the federal level, because it's the first movement we've seen in decades. And the second thing is opinions in Texas have changed. A state that has relatively widespread support for guns in the Second Amendment, the support for stricter gun laws is up 20 points since that shooting. The support for universal background checks is through the roof. The support for raising the minimum age to buy a gun to 21 is up 48 percent. So public opinion was always in support of safer gun laws in Texas, and now the current governor is completely out of step with changing public opinion. You're absolutely right. And those changes that we're seeing in Congress, and my thanks to your next guest, Senator Chris Murphy, for being a leader on that and making it possible, you know, that was really produced by the grassroots leadership of groups like Brady and Giffords and Moms Demand Action and March for Our Lives, and literally hundreds of thousands and now millions of Americans who are standing up to be counted at this moment of truth. And you'll be pleased to hear that when we were there on Sunday in Uvalde, we were also there to march with these parents and with these young students who had organized a march for the community. Hundreds of people turned out. They then rallied in the plaza that had served as a memorial for those victims, demanding action, demanding changes to our gun laws, common sense stuff like universal background checks or a red flag law or safe storage laws. Most of us can get behind that. As you pointed out, the polling indicates that, but we all feel it in Texas. We just have leadership right now that won't take that action. And that's why we need change.