When asked about the topic of gun control during a press conference on Wednesday, Abbott said the laws passed in 2019’s Texas legislative sessions were already some of the most “profound” seen “in any state and addressing school shootings.”
“I know that people like to try to oversimplify this. Let's talk about some real facts. And that is: there are 'real gun laws' in Chicago. There are 'real gun laws' in New York. There are 'real gun laws' in California. I hate to say this, but there are more people who were shot every weekend in Chicago than there are in schools in Texas. And we need to realize that maybe if we just implement tougher gun laws, it's gonna solve it: Chicago and LA and New York disprove that thesis.”
At other points in the conference, Governor Abbott labeled the shooter as an evil person who had no known other criminal or mental health history otherwise known to authorities before the attack.