Collin County Republican lawmaker says it’s time to consider tightening Texas gun laws
“I’m a full-fledged Republican, but this has to be where we come together and figure out how to fix this,” said State Representative Frederick Frazier of McKinney.
AUSTIN, Texas – Frederick Frazier says his wife and two children were shopping at the Allen Premium Outlets on Saturday, May 6, about an hour before eight people were murdered there.
McKinney’s Republican state representative said it’s now clear to him it’s time to start talking about tightening gun laws in Texas.
“What are we doing about it?” he said. “That’s the big question I ask myself every single day. And I have to understand that, because I have a feeling that a lot of people are just saying that this is just part of life.
“It shouldn’t be,” he said.
The state home district of Frazier borders Allen.
He told WFAA that he is “absolutely” willing to consider changes, especially to laws surrounding AR-15-style weapons.
“Are we making it too easy for them to get these weapons? Why is that particular weapon the weapon of choice every time? she asked.
“And that’s something we have to take a hard look at, and that hard look has to come from the 2A basic roots. It must come from the NRA. That sitting has to happen,” she said.
Frazier defended his two Republican colleagues, State Representative Justin Holland of Rockwall and State Representative Sam Harless of Spring, who on Monday voted yes to advance by a select committee a bill that raises the age for the purchase of some semi-automatic weapons such as AR -15s.
The committee’s vote on House Bill 2744 was unexpected and was considered a victory for families who lost children in Uvalde.
Many have been at the Texas Capitol week after week lobbying for it.
But the future of the bill remains uncertain as the powerful calendar committee has yet to consider whether to take it to the floor and the deadline to do so is looming.
Holland and Harless have come under fire on social media for their support for the bill, Frazier said.
“They are doing it with the heart. They don’t do it because they hate guns. We are gun bearers,” Frazier said. “Why would we want to take away guns from citizens to protect themselves? We want citizens to be armed. We want citizens to protect themselves, but we also don’t want maniacs with pure evil in their hearts to go out there and kill our families and everyone else’s family.”
Roxanne Frietze lives in the Frazier district.
She is the mother of two daughters aged 10 and 12.
All three sat in a hallway on Tuesday writing letters to committee members where HB 2744 now rests.
“It’s getting too close and I have two girls that I want to see grow up,” Frietze said. “So, we need to make our presence known.”
She was shocked to hear of Frazier’s softening stance on gun laws.
“Wow,” he said. “This gives me hope.”
“I didn’t vote for him, but if he can do something that small, I can keep up with him.”
Frazier said he is “begging” his colleagues to have the tough conversations necessary for any movement on gun legislation to happen before the end of the session, which is less than three weeks away.
“I am very hopeful that we can come back and show these families and show our constituents that we are really hard at work. My phone exploded with voters asking, what are we doing? And these are people who voted for me,” she said.
“I’m a full-fledged Republican, but this has to be where we come together and figure out how to fix this.”
