AUSTIN (AP) — Texas Gov. Greg Abbott is dismissing calls to hold an emergency legislative session on guns following a violent August that began and ended with mass shootings.
The Texas Legislature doesn't meet again until 2021, which Democrats said Wednesday is too long to wait for new safeguards in the wake of mass shootings in El Paso and Odessa that killed 29 people.
Only the governor can call a special session, and state Democratic lawmakers are trying to ratchet up pressure on Abbott after last weekend's attack in West Texas that killed seven people and injured about two dozen more.
But Abbott, an avid gun rights supporter, has resisted those calls. His spokesman says the solution isn't dividing lawmakers on party-line votes and that legislating on tough issues takes time.
