Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton told Newsmax on Thursday that "passing a red flag law is largely ineffective" in preventing another Uvalde-type tragedy from happening.
"I certainly don't think that's the right direction to go because what we're talking about is people that are not going to follow laws," Paxton said during an appearance on Newsmax's "The Chris Salcedo Show." "They're not going to follow murder laws, they're not going to follow gun laws. They will find ways to get guns."
"If you start restricting law-abiding citizens, it just makes it difficult for law-abiding citizens to protect themselves," Paxton added.
The mass shootings last month at a grocery store in Buffalo, that killed 10 people, and at an elementary school in Uvalde, Texas, that killed 21, including 19 students, sparked a national outcry over gun violence and prompted a bipartisan group of 10 congressional lawmakers to act.
The GOP's lead negotiator in the bipartisan gun talks, Sen. John Cornyn, R-Texas, was formally rebuked by the Republican Party of Texas on Saturday for his role in crafting the proposed legislation, which includes financial incentives for states to enact "red flag" laws.
"Red flag" laws are also known as Extreme Risk Protection Order laws and they allow courts to temporarily seize firearms from anyone thought to be a danger to themselves or others.
Paxton said he didn't think the gun control legislation was going to be effective in preventing another school shooting.
"I think what is effective is protecting these children at the point of entry, having school administrators and teachers ready to respond," he said.
The Texas Tribune reports that the mayor of Uvalde, Don McLaughlin, accused the state Department of Public Safety on Tuesday of selectively leaking records to the press to make local authorities look bad.
When asked about the situation, Paxton said that while he does not know who's responsible for the leak, he thinks "more questions need to be asked."
"Transparency is what this is all about, and I realize it's tough to be a police officer," he said. "It's tough to make decisions when lives are on the line – when your police officers' lives are on the line and students' lives are on the line – but the reality is that people in this country need to know the truth."
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