I believe we must stand strong against the actions of Greg Abbott and the Texas Legislature. In the face of continued inaction, we must do everything we can at the city level to invest in gun violence prevention and recovery for victims.

As a Council Policy Advisor for District 5, I helped support the Council’s steps to stop the epidemic of gun violence including: safe gun storage campaign and free gun locks; stopped APD practice of selling used guns to dealers or the public; created the Office of Violence Prevention; and developed firearm surrender protocols to increase safety of domestic violence victims.

I will continue to take every action we can to invest in prevention and recovery:

• Continue to fund the Safe Storage Saves Lives campaign, to connect residents with gun safety education and free gun locks
• Support the Office of Violence Prevention, created to invest in prevention and healing trauma caused by violence
• Develop a Trauma Recovery Center for Austin with the Alliance for Safety and Justice, Crime Survivors for Safety and Justice (funded in the 2023 budget)
• Act on every option the City has to prohibit the sale of AR-15 style weapons and other semiautomatic rifles to anyone below the age of 21.