The Office of Gov. Greg Abbott issued a statement announcing the creation of the new “Texas Safety Commission”, which comes as a response to the recent terror attack in El Paso.
The commission is charged with developing an immediate action plan for the State of Texas, tasked with preventing future mass shootings and domestic terror attacks.
Part of the commission’s duty will be to produce legislation corresponding with the commission’s findings for lawmakers to tackle in the next Texas Legislature (particularly, legislation providing solutions to combat domestic terrorism, extremist ideologies, and addressing the link between mental health and gun violence).
The 27-member commission will heavily influence state policy and included representatives of various law enforcement agencies, lawmakers, socials media and tech companies, and doctors and educators; however, one appointment immediately raised concern with Second Amendment activists.
Ed Scruggs, who serves as the president for the gun-control lobby group Texans for Gun Sense, will have an unopposed voice on the commission. Gov. Abbott appointed the leftist activist to the commission while simultaneously ignoring requests from pro-gun advocates, like Gun Owners of America state director Rachel Malone, to be included in the policy discussions.
According to the Texans for Gun Sense website, the group’s top legislative priority is enacting “red-flag” protection order laws and forcing universal background checks. Also included in their legislative priorities is the ban of “assault-style” weapons, banning magazines with over 10-round capacity, and raising the age to own a rifle to 21. The group is interwoven with the organization Moms Demand Action, the product of billionaire and gun-grabber liberal Michael Bloomberg, former mayor of New York City.
Malone issued a statement on Facebook regarding the appointment of the commission, saying, “This is unacceptable. Gov. Abbott cannot give us a rinse-and-repeat from last year, when he held roundtables supposedly representing ‘all sides’ but failed to include the voice of the grassroots.”
Malone went on to point out the lone special interest group voice on the commission was a gun-control group who lobbied the legislature very hard against Texans’ Second Amendment rights.
According to Malone, Abbott’s office has not responded to requests from gun-rights groups to be included in the commission’s discussions.
The first meeting of the safety commission will be held at the State Capitol in Austin on August 22, with the second meeting being scheduled in El Paso on August 29.
UPDATE: Since publication, Texas Scorecard has been informed by Gov. Abbott’s office that Mike Cox of the Texas State Rifle Association has been appointed to the safety commission. This brings the total number of commission members up to 28.
