San Antonio Councilman Cruz Shaw, who heads Council's Public Safety Committee, is floating the idea of local gun control action following a string of mass shootings, including one that used a weapon that was legally purchased in San Antonio, News Radio 1200 WOAI reports.
"We should not be hearing the same, tired rhetoric every time there is a shooting," Shaw said in a statement. "Thoughts and prayers alone will not keep automatic rifles out of the hands of murderers. Thoughts and prayers alone will not close the loopholes that currently allow domestic violence offenders and mentally unsound individuals to purchase guns. Thoughts and prayers alone won’t bring peace to families that have suffered loss due to gun violence."
Shaw represents the City's east side, which has been ground zero in the spike in violent crime which has taken several lives in the past three years. Shaw also cited Sunday night's shooting of five people outside a northwest side restaurant, and the fact that the gunman who killed 27 people at a Sutherland Springs church last fall used a weapon which was purchased legally in San Antonio, although he should not have been eligible to buy a weapon due to a domestic violence conviction in the U.S. Air Force.
Shaw did not offer any specific proposals, and conceded there is not a lot that a municipal government can do on this issue. "Without a willing state legislature and federal government, municipalities are extremely limited in what we can do locally to address gun violence. However, as chair of Public Safety, I will never stop speaking up on this issue."