After Atlanta and Colorado mass shootings, Texas GOP leaders double down on protecting gun owners

Texas' Republican leaders are responding to the recent back-to-back mass shootings in Georgia and Colorado with commitments to protect gun ownership in the state.

They’re doubling down against President Joe Biden and congressional Democrats who are pushing for stronger gun laws, including an assault weapons ban, after eight people were killed in Atlanta last week and 10 more in Boulder this week.

"They are gonna come to get your guns," said Gov. Greg Abbott, speaking at a Texas Young Republicans dinner in the Austin area on Tuesday evening, just a day after a gunman went on a rampage in a Colorado grocery store.

The renewed commitment from GOP leaders to protect gun owners comes as the first Texas legislative session is underway since 2019’s mass shootings in El Paso and Midland-Odessa, where a total of 30 people were killed and 50 more were injured. After the 2019 massacres, Abbott and Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick struck a softer tone regarding gun control legislation, hinting at potential common ground with Democrats as they raised concerns about state laws allowing private gun sales between strangers without background checks.