2023 marked a first for the Texas Legislature -- the creation of the House Select Committee on Community Safety.
The bipartisan committee heard dozens of bills on firearms, including one bill aimed at raising the age to purchase semi-automatic rifles.
“The speaker chose me to be a part of this and then be the vice chair for it. So I’m appreciative of it,” said state Rep. Jarvis Johnson of Houston.
Johnson said he didn’t ask to serve on the Community Safety committee, but in the end, he calls the assignment a blessing.
“For the most part, we were dealing with a lot of guns and a lot of gun issues, and I wanted to bring a different perspective,” Johnson said.
House Speaker Dade Phelan created the committee in February. As a whole, it oversees bills related to the possession, use, sale, and transfer of firearms and ammunition.
In total, the committee heard 139 bills over several weeks.
“I think it’s important that bills should be heard. And I also believe that bills should be not only heard but voted on, whether it’s going to be voted up or voted down. And then, if you can get it to the House floor, then get it to the House floor. But this is why we’re here,” Johnson said.
In total, 31 bills moved out of committee, and 108 failed to progress.
Regardless of those numbers, Johnson believes the committee succeeded because it heard every bill presented.
“In the regard of what success should look like for me as a legislator, there were a few bills that I thought should have made it out and made it to the floor a lot quicker, i.e., Raise the age,” he said.
That bill made it out of committee on the last day, but it still failed to make it to the House floor for a public hearing or a vote.
Johnson believes that the number of bills is not the issue. He says it’s the speed at which elected leaders move.
“It’s a matter of how you get them in and how you get them out. We can be efficient. I don’t think we’re efficient with our time,” Johnson said.
KSAT 12 News emailed committee chair state Rep. Ryan Guillen for a comment on this story, but those emails have not been answered.
Watch and interact with KSAT’s Special Project, “One Year In: Uvalde.”