Gov. Greg Abbott of Texas at a memorial on the grounds of Santa Fe High School, where a gunman killed 10 people on Friday. The governor’s campaign changed a contest for a gun because of the shooting, a spokesman said.Brendan Smialowski/Agence France-Presse — Getty Images
Gov.
Greg Abbott of Texas’ re-election campaign scrapped its plan to give away a
shotgun in a contest after a high school student used a shotgun and a handgun
to kill 10 people in the state on Friday.
The campaign created its
contest in early May, well before Santa Fe High School, about 35 miles
southeast of Houston, became the nation’s latest scene of bloodshed inside a
school. Dimitrios Pagourtzis,
17, has been charged with capital murder in the killing of 10 people.
Instead of a shotgun, the
campaign will now give away a $250 gift certificate. Over the weekend, the
campaign’s website removed an image of the governor aiming
a shotgun along with the text: “Win a Texas-made shotgun!”
“We changed it because of the
events on Friday,” said John Wittman, a campaign spokesman.
Such giveaway contests are
common in political campaigns, which hope to build interest in the candidate
and add a few email addresses for their mailing lists. But the timing irked gun
control advocates, including the Austin, Tex., chapter of March for Our Lives,
the student organization that formed after the Parkland, Fla., school shooting
in February.
“To
put it bluntly, we find this a disgusting display of disregard of the toll gun
violence takes and an absolute failure to respect your constituents in the wake
of the #SantaFe shootings,” the group said on Saturday in a statement on Twitter.
Mr.
Abbott has long supported gun ownership, earning an “A” rating and an endorsement
from the National Rifle Association in 2014.
I'm EMBARRASSED: Texas #2 in nation for new gun purchases, behind CALIFORNIA. Let's pick up the pace Texans. @NRA https://t.co/Ry2GInbS1g— Greg Abbott (@GregAbbott_TX) October 28, 2015
After
the Parkland shooting, Mr. Abbott called for improving background checks on gun
buyers and better identification of mental health issues.
“It’s clear that the status quo
is unacceptable, and everybody in every state must take action,” he said in
February, according to The Texas Tribune.
While more than half of Texans
want some form of stricter gun control, according to an October poll by
the University of Texas and The Tribune, there’s little agreement on the main
cause of shootings. Mr. Abbott plans to convene round-table discussions this
week to discuss gun violence in schools, but the debate is expected to be
far more muted than it was in Florida, and dominated by support
for gun rights.
Follow Dan Victor on Twitter: @bydanielvictor.
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