After Uvalde shooting, a question to Texas lawmakers: What action are you taking next?

In Texas, it has happened again.

Two teachers and at least 19 children died at the hands of a gunman Tuesday at Robb Elementary in Uvalde in what was the state’s fifth mass shooting since 2017.

And as the state reels, all eyes are on lawmakers to see what they will do to prevent a similar event from happening again.

Some are calling for gun safety laws in a state that has historically relaxed access to firearms. One state lawmaker is calling for more access to guns while another cautions against “knee jerk” reactions. Another Fort Worth area lawmaker believes it will take something more extreme than legislation to enact change — a complete overhaul of who runs the state.

Denise Cooper, a board member from Texas Gun Sense, said in a statement it was time for responsible Texans to stand together.

“This tragedy has been a tipping point for gun owners, non-gun owners and Texans of all backgrounds to unite,” she said. “I know that we are all feeling the same pain. Together, we must keep all our communities safe from these preventable tragedies.”

State Rep. Tony Tinderholt, a Republican whose district covers Arlington, told the Star-Telegram Wednesday morning that now was the time to support the families who lost their children, not to focus on political agendas.

“We just don’t know everything that happened yet,” he said.

Tinderholt said he was waiting for more details to come out to think about what the Legislature might do. Pressed on the question in light of the numerous school shootings at U.S. schools, he said the Legislature has passed laws addressing safety and security.

“We passed legislation, and look, we may find out that we need to pass more legislation, but I think it’s important for us to see what the outcomes of this investigation are before we — I just don’t want a knee-jerk reaction,” he said.

Rep. Phil King, a Republican who represents Parker and Wise counties and is running unopposed for state Senate, said he believed each school district needed to do security assessments on its buildings and report back to the Legislature with the resources they need. He also said there needs to be increased access to mental health resources, though he acknowledges there is little to no indication of the Uvalde shooter having a criminal or mental health history.

“Right now when you have a school as a gun-free zone, you basically paint a picture on it that says, ‘Come here, nobody will shoot back at you,’” King said. “But if people know that there are trained teachers and school administrators or law enforcement on the scene trained to respond to an active shooter, that will deter them greatly.”

On Twitter, Republican Rep. Charlie Geren of Fort Worth said “Pray for Uvalde.” Sen. Kelly Hancock sent condolences in a Facebook post following the shooting, and retweeted a Twitter post about being unable to find words.

He also posted and retweeted other posts criticizing Democratic gubernatorial nominee Beto O’Rourke for storming the stage and condemning Gov. Greg Abbott during a press conference Wednesday afternoon in Uvalde.

Hancock didn’t return a phone call for comment, but a spokesperson for his office passed along a statement on his behalf.

“No words are adequate to express our collective grief as we mourn with the community of Uvalde and hug our kids and grandkids a little tighter,” it read. “All aspects of this senseless crime will be fully investigated first by law enforcement, then by the Legislature.”

Geren could not immediately be reached via a phone call.

Rep. Chris Turner, a Democrat from Grand Prairie whose district includes part of Arlington, wrote on Twitter Tuesday that the system was broken and that Congress and the state Legislature needed to act.

In another tweet, Turner reposted an editorial from the Dallas Morning News that called for more gun reform in the state.

Turner could not be immediately reached for comment by the Star-Telegram.

Rep. Ramon Romero, a Democrat from Fort Worth, put it plainly.

“I’m pissed,” he said Wednesday morning, adding “that we already knew that this was going to happen.”

He recalled how during the last session he was in disbelief that permitless carry passed and that there was no discussion on red flag laws following the 2018 shooting at Santa Fe High School that left 10 dead.

“They’re selling a bill of goods to all Texans over and over and over again and we keep believing them,” Romero said. “But then for those of us in DFW, Austin, Texas, it’s just too far away to fully pay attention to what’s happening.”

Those being elected are the ones who prioritize expanding the Second Amendment and those who believe that everyone has a right to carry, Romero said.

In the day following the shooting, dialogue among Texas’ Republican Party has revolved around arming more people rather than limiting access to weapons.

Attorney General Ken Paxton said gun access needed to be expanded to stop shootings, according to a report from Business Insider.

Lieutenant Governor Dan Patrick appeared on Tucker Carlson Tonight on Tuesday to say that while Texas had done “some things” after Santa Fe, they needed to do more, namely “harden these targets.”

The latter statement is one Romero feels needs more clarification, and he questioned if they were actually going to arm teachers given what they’re already going through. He also questioned if they were actually going to pay for a security officer at every door of every school and ask taxpayers to fund it.

Romero said the legislators’ job is to solve problems, and that there was no listening.

In the primaries, Romero said Republicans ran campaigns on the right to bear arms and bragged on supporting permitless carry.

“The only thing that’s going to change these laws is when people get beat, period,” he said. “That’s it, there’s no other way. These men and women are not going to change their mind in the Republican Party.”

To the Republicans, Romero said carrying a firearm is a way of life.

“Is this your way of life where your value of carrying a firearm and access to a firearm worth the lives of 19 children?” Romero said. “That’s where we are.”

Carrying a firearm should be a privilege, he said, and that change can only happen when legislators are held accountable.

His next step: To “scream at the top of my lungs,” Romero said.

“I can do a lot, but I can’t pass laws to a blind, ignorant and unwilling-to-listen House,” he said. “I hope that we can find enough members and say let’s do the basics. But even the basics won’t be enough.”

El Paso Democrat Joe Moody said leadership in Austin doesn’t seem to want to engage in real policy discussion that brings meaningful reform in Texas, no matter the tragedy.

While there has been inklings of progress with the passages of laws for safe storage, school safety and mental health, if one looks at legislature’s overall response to the epidemic, it’s been “lackluster,” Moody said.

There has been discussion around major reform that has consensus, Moody said, but the legislature can’t seem to move forward.

“We’re in an environment where the only solution that comes from leadership is that we need more guns, more guns and more guns,” Moody said. “And that’s what you’re hearing again today, you know, from people like Ken Paxton. If that’s your only solution, the result will be the same.”

Moody said he remembers coming to the House floor to speak last year and saying that these types of tragedies would continue if the Legislature kept shrinking its responsibility.

“It’s not something that we are powerless to affect,” he said.

As far as if there’s any movement on gun safety legislation come January’s session, Moody said it’s hard to predict. If the past is a predicator, he said, those who want reform will have a tough road ahead. The urgency and obligation for communities remains and will continue to be there, he said.

Moody said many laws surrounding guns go unenforced in Texas. In the next session, Moody said he’ll be pushing to improve and strengthen protective order laws as well as red flag bills, though the politics on the latter have swallowed the policy.

More mass shooters have been using body armor, and Moody wants to look at why private citizens have access to body armor.

Moody believes school security measures shouldn’t be the focus of conversation — smarter security is a worthwhile conversation but shouldn’t be the only one, he said.

“That’s the only place we end up then we’re not really getting after the problem,” Moody said. “And we’re taking the youth away from our kids.”

Moody said arming schools as a solution, which he predicted will be a big yet cowardly focus that dances around the complications of the issue, says more about the legislators than anything else.

“We’re giving up the idea that we can live in a better world, and that’s something I refuse to give up on,” he said.