Tag Archives: guns

The school security boondoggle

Posted on August 24, 2023 by Charles Kuffner

This is such a mess. Multiple Houston-area school districts say they can’t staff all of their campuses with armed district police officers as the upcoming school year begins, forcing them to seek alternatives to comply with a new state law … Continue reading →

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Here’s another lawsuit filed by Uvalde parents

Posted on June 13, 2023 by Charles Kuffner

That’s at least four, by my count. In the latest lawsuit over the Uvalde school shooting, 30 family members, teachers and others are suing the manufacturer of the rifle the gunman used, the gun store where he collected it and … Continue reading →

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A brief Uvalde roundup one year after the massacre

Posted on May 25, 2023 by Charles Kuffner

Just a few links for you… A year after Uvalde’s school massacre, healing remains elusive. In the year since 19 children and two teachers were killed inside their classrooms at Robb Elementary School in Uvalde, Texas, the search for healing … Continue reading →

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You didn’t get your hopes up about that “raise the age” bill, did you?

Posted on May 11, 2023 by Charles Kuffner

Psych. The unexpected elation felt this week by gun control advocates and families of Uvalde shooting victims dissolved to despair Tuesday, when a bill that would raise the age to legally purchase semi-automatic rifles lost its newfound momentum and was … Continue reading →

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Reactions to Allen

Posted on May 9, 2023 by Charles Kuffner

There’s nothing I can say about the weekend massacre in Allen that hasn’t been said many times by many people. My heart is broken for the victims and their families, and my rage is ever-stoked by the sheer indifference exhibited … Continue reading →

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A brief but dismal legislative update

Posted on April 6, 2023 by Charles Kuffner

Just a few recent news stories, to give you an idea of what’s happening in the Legislative session, and why I have been avoiding it. Item 1: Republican Texas senators on Monday reversed themselves and voted against allowing transgender kids currently being treated with puberty … Continue reading →

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We finally have a reason for the timid police response in Uvalde

Posted on March 21, 2023 by Charles Kuffner

It was because the shooter was using an AR-15, and the cops didn’t want to get slaughtered. Almost a year after Texas’ deadliest school shooting killed 19 children and two teachers, there is still confusion among investigators, law enforcement leaders … Continue reading →

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One small gun loophole may get closed

Posted on March 9, 2023 by Charles Kuffner

Take your wins where you can find them. Texas lawmakers are working to plug a gap in a 2009 law that was meant to keep people with a history of serious mental health issues from legally acquiring firearms. Bipartisan legislation … Continue reading →

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Three stories on Uvalde and gun control

Posted on February 19, 2023 by Charles Kuffner

First, a story about locks and why an obsession with locking school doors is not really going to improve safety. In the aftermath of school shootings like the one in Uvalde, what can get overlooked is basic: Schools need doors … Continue reading →

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Families of Santa Fe shooting victims reach settlement with online ammo sellers

Posted on February 13, 2023 by Charles Kuffner

Very interesting. Two companies that sold and shipped ammunition to the accused Santa Fe High School shooter have reached a settlement with the families of victims of the May 2018 massacre. Online ammunition seller Luckygunner LLC and a related company, Red Stag Fulfillment LLC, in … Continue reading →

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Still more Uvalde bills from Sen. Gutierrez

Posted on February 10, 2023 by Charles Kuffner

At least one of these might have a chance to pass. State Sen. Roland Gutierrez wants the Texas Department of Public Safety to create robust mass shooting response training for all public safety entities after the chaotic response to the … Continue reading →

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Uvalde school district will not finish its internal review of police response to mass shooting

Posted on February 8, 2023 by Charles Kuffner

If nothing else, there are two clear arguments to be made in this debate. The Uvalde Consolidated Independent School District announced it will not continue with an independent review of the district police response to the Robb Elementary School shooting. … Continue reading →

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Sen. Gutierrez files more Uvalde bills

Posted on January 29, 2023 by Charles Kuffner

Wish I could say any of these had a chance, but the work he’s doing is still vital and necessary regardless. State Sen. Roland Gutierrez, who represents Uvalde, said Tuesday that he is leading legislation to make it easier for … Continue reading →

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Project Unloaded

Posted on January 28, 2023 by Charles Kuffner

I approve of this.

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Pushing the panic button

Posted on January 23, 2023 by Charles Kuffner

This feels like security theater to me, but it’s what passes for progress these days. All school districts in Montgomery County will soon be using panic alert technology during emergencies, including an active shooter situation, a security measure Texas education … Continue reading →

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Uvalde parents will take their fight to the Lege

Posted on January 17, 2023 by Charles Kuffner

They’re not going to get what they want and they know it, but they’re still going to fight. I have so much respect for them. More than seven months after a teenage gunman killed 21 people at Robb Elementary School, … Continue reading →

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More guns found at domestic violence incidents

Posted on December 30, 2022 by Charles Kuffner

Not great. The 2021 State of the State report from the Texas Council on Family Violence (TCFV) outlines key domestic violence statistics from the past two years. The report shows the number of domestic violence calls law enforcement responded to … Continue reading →

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Will we finally close the “dead suspect” loophole?

Posted on December 28, 2022 by Charles Kuffner

The short answer is no we won’t, but it will be worth the effort anyway. In November, state Representative Joe Moody, an El Paso Democrat who served on a committee that investigated the Uvalde killings, filed House Bill 30, a … Continue reading →

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Senate committee makes small Uvalde recommendations

Posted on December 23, 2022 by Charles Kuffner

Par for the course. A special Texas Senate committee that convened in the wake of the Uvalde school shooting made a series of policy recommendations Wednesday regarding school and gun safety, mental health, social media and police training. In an … Continue reading →

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Texas drops appeal of ruling that forbade banning the sale of handguns to people under 21

Posted on December 22, 2022 by Charles Kuffner

Least surprising headline of the week. And month, and year, and pretty much any other arbitrary timeline you choose. Texas will no longer fight to ban 18- to 20-year-olds from carrying handguns in public. A judge ruled earlier this year … Continue reading →

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The medical response also failed at Uvalde

Posted on December 21, 2022 by Charles Kuffner

This is a very hard story to read, with graphic descriptions of injuries suffered by the shooting victims at Robb Elementary School in Uvalde. Click over very carefully, but whether you read or not know that the failures at the … Continue reading →

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More on the limits of social media monitoring for school violence prevention

Posted on December 19, 2022 by Charles Kuffner

Some good stuff from the DMN. When Social Sentinel representatives pitched their service to Florida’s Gulf Coast State College in 2018, they billed it as an innovative way to find threats of suicides and shootings posted online. But for the … Continue reading →

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Uvalde class action lawsuit over mass shooting officially filed

Posted on December 5, 2022 by Charles Kuffner

We’ve been waiting for this. Survivors of the fatal mass shooting at Robb Elementary School in Uvalde, Texas, have filed a $27 billion class action lawsuit against multiple law enforcement agencies in Texas, according to court documents. The lawsuit, filed … Continue reading →

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Another lawsuit filed by Uvalde parents

Posted on November 30, 2022 by Charles Kuffner

Another one to watch. The mother of a 10-year-old killed in the Uvalde school shooting has filed a federal lawsuit against the gun-maker and seller, the city of Uvalde, its school district and several law enforcement officers. Sandra Torres’ daughter … Continue reading →

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DPS asks to be rewarded for its abject failure at Uvalde

Posted on November 28, 2022 by Charles Kuffner

I like to think that I don’t get easily shocked, but this did it to me. The Texas Department of Public Safety wants $1.2 billion to turn its training center north of Austin into a full-time statewide law enforcement academy … Continue reading →

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Sen. Gutierrez begins his mission to be a pest about Uvalde

Posted on November 16, 2022 by Charles Kuffner

One of the things I’ll be watching this session. State Sen. Roland Gutierrez of San Antonio has pre-filed three bills ahead of Texas’ next legislative session that would reform state gun laws and set up a state fund to compensate … Continue reading →

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If all we ever do are defensive measures, we’ll never make any progress

Posted on November 14, 2022 by Charles Kuffner

I’m not saying we shouldn’t do these things, although some of them definitely should be questioned. I am saying we can’t just do things like these. The Texas Education Agency announced Thursday a plethora of proposals that would, among other … Continue reading →

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Sen. Gutierrez vows to be a pest about Uvalde and gun control in the next session

Posted on November 11, 2022 by Charles Kuffner

I’m rooting for him. As he watched a couple load ice chests into their car at a gas station, something didn’t sit right with Roland Gutierrez. The pair were likely on their way to the lake to enjoy the late … Continue reading →

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More on hoax school shooter reports

Posted on November 7, 2022 by Charles Kuffner

I don’t know when this ends, but I continue to be worried that they will cause a major problem eventually. This year has seen a significant number of hoax calls across the country. In the three weeks between mid-September and … Continue reading →

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We have different definitions of “failure”

Posted on October 29, 2022 by Charles Kuffner

And by “we”, I mean DPS head Steve McCraw and everybody else. Weeks after Texas Department of Public Safety Director Steve McCraw said he would resign if his troopers had “any culpability” in the botched police response to the Uvalde … Continue reading →

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There’s a wave of hoax school shooting reports around the country

Posted on October 18, 2022 by Charles Kuffner

Weird and scary. When Emmi Conley first heard in September about a rash of hoax calls reporting active shooters in schools, she dismissed it. Conley, an extremism researcher who studies groups and people behind public displays of violence, said she … Continue reading →

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In which I pay a few minutes’ attention to the Miss USA pageant

Posted on October 13, 2022 by Charles Kuffner

What can I say? I love some controversy in niche competitive events. Just days after Miss Texas USA R’Bonney Gabriel was crowned Miss USA, several other contestants have accused the pageant of favoritism and rigging the competition. During the live broadcast, several … Continue reading →

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Uvalde school district suspends its entire police force

Posted on October 9, 2022 by Charles Kuffner

Um, wow. Uvalde school officials on Friday suspended all of the district police department’s activities following the firing of a recently hired district officer who was revealed to have been among the first state troopers to respond to the deadly … Continue reading →

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Texas to appeal that ridiculous ruling that forbade banning handgun sales to those under 21

Posted on October 1, 2022 by Charles Kuffner

Good. Now we’ll see if their heart is in it. Texas is gearing up to fight a judge’s ruling that the state can’t ban adults under 21 from carrying handguns, a move that’s drawing anger from some gun rights groups. … Continue reading →

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