The 17-year-old boy tried to buy a gun over the phone to “do the same thing as his cousin”
For Immediate Release: August 7, 2023
SAN ANTONIO, TEXAS — Tuesday evening, News 4 San Antonio reported that a 17-year-old cousin of the Uvalde shooter was arrested after making threats to commit a shooting at a school and “acquire an AR-15 through an illegal private sale.”
“When this family saw something, they said something. And law enforcement listened and took this threat seriously. Thankfully, a few individuals prevented a disaster. I’m glad the Uvalde community didn’t see another horror play out in Texas. But it shouldn’t take an overheard conversation or luck. Our laws should protect us, not fortune. That is not safety we can count on. Had this young man been just one year older, he would have been able to purchase an AR-15 anywhere in Texas,” stated Senator Roland Gutierrez.
In the year since the Uvalde Massacre, Ted Cruz and Texas Republicans have refused to act on common sense gun reform like red flag laws and raising the age to buy a firearm. These measures are supported by the vast majority of Texans including Democrats, Independents, and Republicans. The widely-popular Bipartisan Safer Communities Act was signed into law on June 25, 2022, but Ted Cruz voted against it.
“Red flag laws work to keep guns out of the hands of dangerous individuals and provide more tools for law enforcement to do their job. Our system is broken in Texas, but it shouldn’t be that way. We shouldn’t have to fight this hard to do the right thing for our kids. Our kids shouldn’t be terrified and having panic attacks about going back to school.”
###