Collin County has traditionally elected Republican politicians who do not support gun reforms. But there is a growing number of residents speaking out in favor of such reforms, and even against these politicians, in the wake of the mass shooting in Allen.
Allen’s Green Park was packed with protesters a week after a gunman killed eight people at a nearby mall. Many of the protesters were mothers carrying their children with chubby legs smeared with sunscreen to protect them from the sun’s glare.
Protesters say they want action against gun violence and will work to vote out politicians who are doing nothing to stop it. Rally attendees chanted “vote them out” repeatedly.
Plano resident Katherine Vargas said she is frustrated with lawmakers who won’t take action against gun violence.
“We’ve seen them refuse to take action and we’re here to say enough is enough,” Vargas said. “We’re fed up.”
Vargas, who has three children under the age of 10, joined Moms Demand Action in 2019 after an Allen gunman killed 23 people in El Paso. The group advocates for gun reforms such as raising the age to purchase assault weapons to 21. A University of Texas poll found that more than three-quarters of Texans support it.
But Gov. Greg Abbott said no.
More than half of Collin County voted for Abbott, and Texas state representative Jeff Leach co-sponsored the bill that became the permit-less carry law. Adult Texans can now carry handguns openly or concealed in public because of this law.
Vargas said there’s a reason Republican politicians like Leach and Abbott don’t support gun reforms.
“Our lawmakers are beholden to the gun lobby and extremists and are not willing to put the lives of our children before that,” he said.
Abbott got more than $20,000 from the gun lobby for his most recent campaign, according to Follow the Money.
Abbott told Fox News after the shooting that addressing mental health is the way to reduce gun violence. His press secretary told KERA in an email that the governor is in talks to increase the state’s mental health budget by about two billion dollars.
Leach got $1,750 from the gun lobby according to Follow the Money. He said on the House floor after the shooting that he was not aware of any bill that could have prevented the shooting, but that mass shootings are happening too often.
Leach’s district includes parts of Allen, as well as Texas Rep. Mihaela Plesa’s. She is one of three Democrats the county elected in 2022. No Democrat won Collin County in 2020.
Plesa’s race was close: he won by less than a thousand votes. But progressive politicians like Plesa are gaining strength in the region. He said at Saturday’s rally that they have to build there.
“We can keep bringing more people to the table,” he said.
There were tents at the rally where people could register to vote and representatives from Asian American voting groups. Allen is about 20% Asian.
Collin County’s Asian population is growing. Chanda Parhboo is the founder and executive director of Voter Education South Asia. He said the mall shooting was a hate crime against Asians and immigrants.
“My world was shattered when I heard that our community has been robbed of its sense of belonging,” Parbhoo said, her voice cracking with emotion.
Half of the shooting victims who died were Asian. Collin County has seen an increase in anti-Asian hate. A video of a woman telling a group of South Asian women in Plano to “go back to your country” went viral last summer.
Authorities say the gunman was a neo-Nazi with a swastika and an SS tattoo who targeted the mall in the shooting. But they said he was random in choosing his victims and likely targeted the location, not the victims.
Parbhoo says officials need to look into the role hate played in the shooting.
“This is an infection that our country needs to heal,” he said. “Today, I’m here to say that hate groups have no home in Texas.”
“Hate has no home here” echoed throughout the rally in Green Park, with chants of “not one more” growing louder as people called for an end to hate and mass shootings .
It’s a rallying cry heard after every mass shooting, but whether or not it makes a difference to lawmakers like Abbott and Leach remains to be seen as many gun reforms fizzle out in the legislature.
Do you have a tip? Email Caroline Love at clove@kera.org.
Caroline Love is one Report for America KERA News corps member.
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