Green: 'I urge all persons of goodwill to participate in gun buybacks'

Congressman Al Green (D-TX) said he hosted a gun buyback event and encourages more Texans to give up their guns.

“In July of this year, I partnered with the City of Houston to host a gun buyback to focus positive attention on the elimination of gun violence across the Greater Houston area as well as for our nation," the congressman said in a news release. "It was a successful event that I was pleased to support and attend. I am also pleased that the City of Houston has set aside $1 million from the $53 million Congress appropriated to One Safe last year for the gun buyback aspect of the program.

The buyback program will " allow guns from any place in the area to be received using a well-established, no-questions-asked approach,” Green continued. “Gun buybacks are an effective means by which to help reduce crime as well as gun violence in our communities. I urge all persons of goodwill to participate in gun buybacks in an effort to save lives by getting guns off our streets. The epidemic of gun violence and mass shootings must end or it may be our end.”

Earlier this month, Democratic Texas gubernatorial candidate Beto O'Rourke, at a rally at Texas State University, criticized incumbent Gov. Greg Abbott for not enacting gun control measures, University Star reported. His plans if elected include repealing permitless carry and raising the age at which Texans buy firearms to 21.

In the wake of the school shooting in Uvalde, TX this spring, Texas Democrats renewed calls to state leaders to enact gun control measures, the Texas Tribune reported. O'Rourke said Abbott was "doing nothing" to prevent shootings, and his running mate Mike Collier was critical of Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick for not tightening gun restrictions.

After the Uvalde shooting, the Texas Senate Democratic Caucus sent a letter to Abbott asking him to call a special session during which they could enact gun control measures including raising the minimum purchasing age, implementing universal background checks, introducing "red flag" laws and a "cooling off" period, and restricting high-capacity magazines, KXAN reported.

A survey conducted by the Texas Politics Project found that 80% of Democrat respondents wanted stricter gun control laws, compared to 14% of Republicans and 39% of Independents.  Three percent of Democrat respondents said they would support more relaxed gun control measures, compared to 26% of Republicans and 22% of Independents.   Twelve percent of Democrat respondents said they would like gun laws to be "left as they are now," compared to 58% of Republican respondents and 35% of Independents.