Abbott says mall shooting underscores need to address mental health issues
Texas Gov. Greg Abbott said he plans to visit Allen, Texas, on Sunday afternoon as he argued in a TV interview that the mass shooting at an outlet mall there underscores the need to focus on addressing mental health issues.
“Texans are hurting today. And the people who are hurting the most obviously are the families of the victims, the families of lost loved ones, families who have a loved one who is injured and our main priority right now is to help and support those families in the Allen community," Abbott said on Fox News Sunday.
He said he is going to Allen on Sunday "to begin the process of providing hope and healing."
“But I can tell you there are questions that are lingering that the families want answers to. And that is why this happened? Why did that gunman do this? How did this happen? And I know that those families need answers as quickly as possible,” said Abbott, who praised the quick response of police in confronting the shooter and killing him.
Abbott was asked about new polling that shows strong support for background checks for gun purchases, increasing the legal age to buy a gun to 21 and requiring mental health checks for purchases. The governor said his state is also looking at legislation to address "easy solutions" to get guns out of the hands of criminals.
But overall, Abbott argued, the focus should be on the “long term solution” of addressing mental health.