AUSTIN, Texas — The Texas House committee investigating the massacre in Uvalde began its work on June 9.
But for now, all testimony will remain private and there is no word how long the investigation might take or when the public can see the results.
The committee does have subpoena power. And the vice chair, El Paso Democrat Joe Moody, says they’ll be talking to anyone and everyone who’s been intimately involved and the ultimate goal is to lay the facts bare.
“This is not a committee that starts with a conclusion and goes from there,” Moody said on Inside Texas Politics. “We are going to thoroughly review everything about this tragedy and let those facts speak for themselves. That’s our job.”
Moody says emotions are still raw in the El Paso community nearly three years after a mass shooting at a Walmart store.
Watch the segment below:
The Democrat says he just attended a town hall in El Paso where he heard various suggestions about what the state should focus on to begin addressing the problem -- from mental health to limiting access to guns to school safety.
“We need to focus on all of those things. None of that should be outside our discussion. It’s very complex. It’s very complicated. And so, going into a review of all those areas is important,” he said.
Moody, a former prosecutor first elected in 2008, says he’s worked on many pieces of legislation related to safety over the years, such as safe storage laws and protective orders when dealing with domestic violence and sexual assault.
And he says he will continue the conversation around gun safety moving forward.
“The only thing we can’t do, is do nothing,” Rep. Moody said.
