Patrick: 'Texans are fed up with violent crime and skyrocketing murder rates'

In order to combat rising crime rates, Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick intends to introduce a mandatory 10-year sentence if someone commits a crime using a gun, he said during an appearance on Univision 23 DFW.

"Texans are fed up with violent crime and skyrocketing murder rates," Patrick said. "I will pass legislation next session to add a ten-year mandatory jail sentence to anyone convicted of using a gun while committing a crime. As for judges and DAs who release violent criminals and choose not to enforce Texas laws, we need to remove them from office. We cannot let Democrats turn Texas into California."

The lieutenant governor discussed soaring crime rights in Texas.

 "Crime is up at a record number in many of our cities, and crime using guns is near an all-time high in some places," he said. 

On his proposed increase in criminal penalties for people who commit crimes using guns, Patrick said, "This would be a mandatory 10 years added to whatever other crime that you have been sentenced for, so it would be on top of that crime.  The reason is this: we have the Wild West right now in many of our cities, in much of our state.  Gun crimes are committed every day, every hour." 

The additional 10 years would apply even if the person did not fire the gun while committing the crime, Patrick said.

"Because let me tell you, the terror of an individual that has a gun pointed at their face, whether being car jacked, or whether being robbed, or a store owner, that is not going to be acceptable in the state of Texas," the lieutenant governor said.

The homicide rate in Texas in 2020 was higher than the national average at 6.6 murders per every 100,000 residents, or a total of 1,931, the Center Square reported. The state's rate of overall violent crime, which includes rape, robbery, and aggravated assault in addition to murder, was significantly higher than the national average, with 447 violent crimes per 100,000 Texans, compared to the national average of 399/100,000, according to data from the FBI's 2020 Uniform Crime Report.

Texas' 2020 murder rate represented a 37% increase from 2019, ABC 25 reported, citing data from the Department of Public Safety.

Homicide rates increased even more in 2021 in most of Texas's major cities, The Texan reported. In Austin, murders increased by almost 90% from 2020 to 2021, and in San Antonio, murders increased by 25%, the story said. The murder rate in Houston rose by 17% and in Fort Worth by 9%.

Murders in Fort Worth reached a 27-year high in 2021.  “This increase follows a trend seen nationally from 2019 to 2020 when the nation reported a 30% increase in homicides — the largest single-year jump in 60 years,” a San Antonio Police Department spokesperson told The Texan.   In some cities, such as Austin, law enforcement officials pointed to anti-police rhetoric as contributing to their inability to recruit and retain officers, which in turn harms the police department's ability to deter and respond to crimes.  Austin Mayor Steve Adler has dismissed some public safety concerns as "right-wing misinformation."