Texas’ Democratic Senate candidates stake out tough positions on guns
HOUSTON — In a state that’s widely known for its expansive gun culture, the candidates competing for the Democratic nomination in next year’s Texas Senate race are staking out tough positions on the issue of guns in America.
“We have to end open carry,” former Air Force helicopter pilot MJ Hegar said Tuesday in an exclusive interview with NBC News. “It negatively contributes to the gun violence epidemic and the gun culture in this country. But more importantly it’s an assault on every bystander.”
Texas claims the highest number of guns in the country, and is one of several states that allows licensed gun owners to openly carry handguns as long as they’re in a shoulder or belt holster.
Hegar says she doesn’t worry how her positions on gun regulations could impact her professional future in a region where political leaders have long sought to expand, not restrict, access to firearms.
“The idea that any gun safety legislation is an infringement on 2nd amendment rights is a lie that the gun lobby has very effectively told everybody,” she said. “I’m a gun owner. I’m a combat vet. But I’m also a mom. I’m going to protect 2nd amendment rights but I’m not going to allow our country to not protect children, too.”
The nation’s political focus is concentrating on Texas this week as Houston hosts the third Democratic 2020 presidential debate, but the state has also seen its share of attention in the last month with two major deadly mass shootings that have partially reawakened the gun debate here.
Other Democratic candidates looking to unseat incumbent Republican John Conyn in next year’s Senate race here are also eager to call for changes to America’s gun laws that go further than simply passing universal background checks and red flag laws, like a mandatory buyback and ban of assault weapons like former Rep. Beto O’Rourke called for after last month’s El Paso shooting.
“It would be expensive,” former Democratic Rep. Chris Bell acknowledged in an interview Tuesday. “But I don't think that assault weapons should simply be confiscated from people who want them legally. I do think that government needs to make that investment and buy those weapons back, and I think it would be money very well spent. I think that's another area where Texas could lead.”
Longtime political organizer Cristina Tzintzún Ramirez also said she’d support the idea of an assault weapon buyback.
“I've been waiting my entire adult life for Congress to act to do very basic things like pass universal background checks, to take assault weapons and weapons of war out of the hands of civilians,” she told NBC News.
Houston City Council member Amanda Edwards emphasized first focusing on passing the “low hanging fruit” legislation like universal background checks and red flag laws, but acknowledged in an interview that the idea of assault weapons bans or buybacks are “something that we need to be exploring.”
“That’s a conversation, I don’t know if it has the same slam dunk effect as universal background checks,” she said. “But we’ve got to look at keeping our families and our communities safe.”