'Bankrupt conscience': Texas newspaper blisters Greg Abbott after latest mass shooting

Texas Republican Gov. Greg Abbott was blasted for his firearms policies as he began his general election campaign against Democrat Beto O'Rourke.

Abbott described the Uvalde gunman's actions as “Horrifically, incomprehensibly," which resulted in a harsh editorial from the Houston Chronicle, which took issue with the second word.

"But the second word Abbott used — 'incomprehensibly' — is just as much cowardice as it is a bald-faced lie," the editorial board wrote. "Of course it’s impossible to fathom why someone would shoot up an elementary school, or any school, but it’s hardly incomprehensible that it happened. It keeps happening, in Texas and across the nation. No one, especially not the governor of a state with some of the most inept, irresponsible and dangerous gun laws in the nation, should be confused, somehow unable to comprehend, the reasons for this never-ending tragedy of mass shootings in our country."

The newspaper said the state's permit-less carry legislation is moving the state in the wrong direction.

"Texas had 1 million registered weapons in 2021, more than second-place Florida and third-place Virginia combined. The United States leads all wealthy nations with its gun murder rate, and all nations in the rate of suicide by gun. And since September 2018, Texas has far more than its fair share of victims of mass shootings. Of the 2,000 such deaths recorded, 195 happened in Texas, far more than any other state," the newspaper noted.

The newspaper noted Abbott's comments after the 2018 school shooting in Sante Fe and the 2019 mass shootings in El Paso and then Odessa and Midland.

"As we speak, the National Rifle Association is excitedly gearing up for its annual meeting in Houston this Friday, May 27-29, at the George R. Brown Convention Center," the newspaper noted. "But also on hand this weekend, in a fierce, strong, protesting posture, should be every single Texan, including sensible gun owners, who want to stop the madness, stop the killing, and stop the NRA’s stranglehold over Texas’ elected leaders."

The newspaper suggested gun laws should be a major focus in the 2022 gubernatorial election.

"We call on Abbott, whose campaign war chest is comfortably overflowing in his reelection bid against Democrat Beto O’Rourke, to replenish his bankrupt conscience and do something, anything, to stop the blood of children and the tears of parents. We call on O’Rourke as well to demonstrate the kind of leadership, passion and gun reform policy ideas that we’ve lost faith Abbott can provide," the newspaper noted. "Go vote. Go fight."

Read the full editorial.

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