Texas
Analysis: History suggests attention on gun policy will fade well before the November elections
/static.texastribune.org/media/files/22a70c2550d274c48fd0730b40373e23/Square%20Memorial%20KGB%20TT%2004.jpg "Analysis: History suggests attention on gun policy will fade well before the November elections")
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Time is the enemy. Per week has handed since 21 individuals have been murdered in an elementary college in Uvalde, an atrocity nonetheless on the heart of private and non-private consideration and concern.
Gov. Greg Abbott and different politicians sure to gun tradition are squirming, however historical past tells us public consideration will subside, that voters will transfer on to different points and that the Texas pols can chill out into their ardent deregulation of weapons, the No. 1 reason behind dying by damage for youths within the U.S.
The elected officers who’ve performed little to guard Texans and different Individuals after any of the mass shootings that got here earlier than Uvalde have one thing in frequent with the dumbfounding inaction of the 19 first responders who idled in a hallway at Robb Elementary for greater than an hour final Tuesday whereas a gunman killed 21 youngsters and lecturers.
These officers are frozen by their concern of what may occur in the event that they act, ruled by what probably the most zealous Second Modification voters may do in the event that they attempt to make gun security a precedence.
They don’t seem to be the noble heroes we hoped they might be. They’re simply scared. And it’s a highly effective concern, too, that may maintain them at bay whereas individuals they’ve the power to save lots of are as a substitute murdered.
They’ve actually made it simpler to purchase weapons and ammo in Texas than it’s to vote, or to get licensed to chop hair or deal with meals. Solely the primary of these issues — shopping for weapons and ammo — requires no coaching, registration, licensing or certification.
These lawmakers are doing their jobs as they see match, tailoring their responses to the desires of a few of their most outspoken voters. Ignoring the bloodbath has dangers of its personal, however their political judgment is and has been that the wrath of gun rights supporters will likely be worse than the wrath of voters who suppose gun violence is out of hand and needs to be reversed.
What occurred final week as soon as once more pits the deregulators towards the implications of their very own work. Nearly anyone in Texas should buy or carry a gun, and which means just about anyone will, educated or not, secure or not, evil or not.
It’s so scary that the uniformed officers within the hallway didn’t problem the killer. It’s so scary that the lawmakers in Austin and Washington constantly facet with the individuals behind the weapons as a substitute of the individuals in entrance of them.
Voters can repair this, if they need. Politicians are hypersensitive to voters, and if the mandate is for anti-violence, that’s what the conversations within the capitals will likely be about. Our latest historical past predicts apathy — that in a short while, voters will transfer their consideration elsewhere whereas the curiosity teams whose livelihoods rely on gun deregulation persist.
A gun lobbyist is nothing however a persistent activist, exhibiting as much as work day by day with a selected focus, at all times speaking to lawmakers, bending coverage lengthy after others’ consideration has wandered.
The remainder of us? Not a lot. That’s not nearly gun security. It occurs with foster care, pandemic restrictions, nearly every part. We’re involved with the headline points, for a minute, after which we return to what we have been doing. These hyper-aware politicians, after a couple of days, solely hear from lobbyists and curiosity teams and different skilled seekers of presidency favors. It’s not shocking who normally wins the day.
The “good man with a gun” thought was disproved by 19 good guys with weapons final week. The guarantees of motion that adopted different mass killings have been undone by majorities of the 181 Texas lawmakers and the 535 members of Congress many times.
The outcomes haven’t modified as a result of we haven’t modified. Our outrage light after Sandy Hook, Parkland, Santa Fe, El Paso, Sutherland Springs, Odessa and all of the others. Texas has had 21 college shootings to date in 2022, in response to the Gun Violence Archive, and based mostly on the response of our policymaking politicians, the voters of Texas and of the U.S. are unstirred by that.
Now it’s been per week. The vacation weekend had the same old run of flicks and grilling and household gatherings and parades. We get distracted. We put horrible issues in our rearview mirrors and transfer on.
It’s true that the politicians haven’t solved this, and that failing belongs to them. They’re cowards, shackled by the concern that voters will likely be tougher on them for doing one thing than we’re if, as soon as once more, they do nothing.
That failing belongs to voters. The facility to show authorities heads is simple to grasp and onerous to train. All it takes is consideration — and persistence, which is nothing greater than sustained consideration and motion. Consideration is simple; persistence is uncommon. Take a look at what number of occasions we’ve been outraged by mass killings and what number of occasions we’ve moved on and let the ardent gun rights advocates management the federal government.
Texas Republicans have managed state authorities for greater than 20 years, constantly working to decontrol weapons for years, believing that’s what their voters need, and Democrats are blaming them for the outcomes and calling for brand new legal guidelines. That’s what their voters need. Bear in mind, although, that Texas obtained its open-carry legal guidelines when Democrats had a say. That’s what voters needed.
Politics is about phrases, but in addition actions. The Texas responses to taking pictures after taking pictures quantity to an institutional protection of gun tradition, preserving a ghastly establishment as a substitute of remaking it.
That’s on the state’s voters. If what lawmakers have been doing was out of line, we’d be punishing or correcting them, and that hasn’t occurred.
They do symbolize us, and so they’ll change issues if we insist.
This isn’t a straightforward problem. There aren’t a few bumper-sticker options we will put into regulation to repair it. However the mindset, the need to resolve the issue, doesn’t exist but. It should take a very long time and a ton of labor, like arising with vaccines within the face of an epidemic, or going to the moon or constructing a freeway system. However lawmakers have promised motion earlier than and performed little. They misled us, and voters needs to be as furious about that because the governor mentioned he was about being misled by lies about regulation enforcement heroics in Uvalde.
We’ve seen for years the ability of the small group of voters who management Republican primaries in Texas, and by doing so, management state coverage. When you make it simpler for a assassin to acquire a homicide weapon, you need to have to clarify to the victims and everybody else why you thought that was a good suggestion.
Now’s the time.
Politicians don’t need to lose elections to get the message; they simply need to get the message voters are sending. In 2018, Republicans received all the statewide elections, however they knew voters have been incensed about property taxes and public training, and in 2019, they got here to Austin with these points on the prime of their priorities.
There’s an election between now and the subsequent common session of the Legislature subsequent January. And in the event that they maintain particular classes on gun security earlier than then, as lawmakers from each events have urged, that election will supply voters an opportunity to say whether or not they’ve performed sufficient.
They’ll reply to gun violence, however provided that a persistent public calls for it.
Editor’s be aware: Ross Ramsey, who co-founded The Texas Tribune, retired because the Tribune’s govt editor earlier this yr.
Texas women’s basketball nonconference schedule
Texas women’s basketball nonconference schedule
After a 103-57 win over South Dakota State on Sunday, the Texas Longhorns will head into their holiday break on a high note.
Sunday’s lopsided win at Moody Center came five days after Texas beat La Salle by a 111-49 score. Texas hadn’t scored 100 points in consecutive games since it did so against McNeese State and UTSA in November 2017.
Texas never trailed on Sunday, and freshmen Jordan Lee and Justice Carlton served as first-half catalysts for the No. 6 team in the USA Today Sports Coaches Poll. Lee started and scored 10 first-quarter points while Carlton came off the bench to score 17 first-half points on 7-of-9 shooting. Combined, Lee and Carlton had 29 points in the first half. South Dakota State’s entire team had 26.
While Texas built its 53-26 lead in the first half, eight of the nine Longhorns who played scored. The surprising exception was All-American Madison Booker, who distributed three assists and grabbed three rebounds but missed her three shots.
A perennial NCAA tournament qualifier that had split its prior games against ranked Creighton and Duke teams, South Dakota State (10-3) never cut into its 27-point halftime deficit in the second half.
Here are three observations from Sunday’s 46-point rout:
Mwenentanda remains patient with her process
Carlton finished with 19 points and nine rebounds while senior forward Taylor Jones had 15 points, 11 rebounds and four blocks. Lee and senior guard Rori Harmon respectively added 14 and 13 points for a Texas team that shot 53.9% from the field. Booker was limited to nine points, but Harmon pointed out after the game that Booker’s +/- of 41 was the best among the Longhorns.
Ndjakalenga Mwenentanda was the fifth Longhorn to record a double-digit scoring total. Over 11 minutes, Mwenentanda scored 10 points on 5-of-6 shooting.
Mwenentanda grew up in South Dakota and was that state’s Gatorade Player of the Year in 2022. The school in Sioux Falls where she won a state championship is about an hour drive from South Dakota State’s campus. Mwenentanda was recruited by the Jackrabbits but she said that she was attracted to what Texas could offer her athletically and academically.
Since arriving on campus, Mwenentanda has shown glimpses of her potential since arriving at Texas, but she has mainly been a role player for the Longhorns. Sunday was the 11th time that she scored at least 10 points in a game. Just twice in her career has she played more than 25 minutes.
Mwenentanda sees herself as a Swiss Army Knife on the Texas roster. She’s listed as a 6-foot-2 guard on the team’s roster, but Vic Schaefer has mainly used her as a “4” player this season. Mwenentanda played some in the paint last season, but she got more playing time as a guard. Training more with the post players this offseason has helped her adjust to that role this season.
“I physically prepared for it, I mentally prepared for it. I’m enjoying it,” Mwenentanda said.
Schaefer praised the play of Mwenentanda in his postgame press conference on Sunday. Earlier in the week, Mwenentanda said that she was staying patient with her process.
“Everybody’s process is different. I feel like comparing myself to other people’s process would be one reason to give up,” Mwenentanda said. “Everybody on this team are great players, are great women so even though this process is a little bit different for me, it’s not something I look at negatively because I know everybody’s working hard and everybody’s pitching in.”
Status for sidelined Laila Phelia remains unclear
Texas senior Laila Phelia missed her third straight game on Sunday. Phelia suffered a detached retina during the offseason. Texas has not announced a timeline for her return, but Schaefer has said the program will soon release an update.
The leading scorer at Michigan last season, Phelia has played in just eight of the Longhorns’ 13 games. She is averaging 6.1 points and 19.4 minutes per game while shooting 40.5% from the field.
What’s next for Texas? Rest and one final tune-up
Next on the schedule for Texas is a home game against UTRGV (6-6) on Dec. 29. That will be the Longhorns’ final game until their Southeastern Conference debut at Oklahoma on Jan. 2, 2025.
But first, the Longhorns will get some rest. Mwenentanda won’t be able to fly back to South Dakota until Monday morning, but the rest of the Longhorns headed home after Sunday’s win. The Longhorns will return to practice on Dec. 27.
How will the Longhorns spend their break? The three players who attended Sunday’s postgame press conference – Carlton, Harmon and Mwenentanda – said they’d take some time off, but they added that they’ll get some workouts in with family and hometown trainers.
As for Schaefer? He’ll do some work over the break, but he won’t be in his office.
“I’m going to be standing in about knee-deep water in the morning calling a duck and having my son (Logan) with me and my dog, my hunting dog, not my show dog. We’ll enjoy some time together in the morning and then we’ll wet a line and fish in the afternoon,” Schaefer said. “I’ll probably sit in my bow stand a couple of nights with my computer in my lap and watch film. I don’t really care if I see anything or not, but I usually see a lot. I get more work done sitting in a bow stand in a bow blind than I do a lot of times sitting at my desk.
“I’ll just enjoy time with family. I’m really blessed with Holly and Logan and Blair here and we’re all together at Christmas, and it’s just a special time for us. We really embrace the Christmas season.”
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Former Colorado Buffaloes defensive end Dayon Hayes is set to continue his collegiate career at Texas A&M after transferring following a season-ending injury. Hayes, a 6-foot-3, 265-pound defender, began his journey at Pitt, where he played from 2020 to 2023, accumulating 13 sacks and 80 tackles over four seasons.
At Pitt, Hayes showcased his potential in his sophomore and junior years, logging around 500 combined snaps and producing 30 pressures. His breakout came in 2023 when he amassed 44 pressures and a 13% pass rush win rate, ranking 12th in the ACC. Hayes also demonstrated solid run defense, posting an average tackle depth of 1.6 yards and recording 10.5 stops for loss. His ability to set the edge and prevent runners from escaping outside made him a critical piece of Pitt’s defense.
Following his success at Pitt, Hayes transferred to Colorado as a highly sought-after addition to Deion Sanders’ revamped Buffaloes roster. He made an immediate impact, registering two sacks and 3.5 tackles for loss in Colorado’s first three games. However, his promising start was cut short by a knee injury in the fourth game, sidelining him for the rest of the season.
Deion Sanders says he won’t attend the 2025 NFL Draft in Green Bay
Despite the setback, Hayes’ strong early performance likely earned him a medical redshirt, granting him another year of eligibility. With his final collegiate season on the horizon, Hayes opted to join Texas A&M, bringing his pass-rushing skills to the SEC. The Aggies, coming off an eight-win season, are set to face USC in the Las Vegas Bowl. Hayes’ ability to pressure quarterbacks and defend the run should bolster Texas A&M’s defensive front, adding experience and depth to their edge rotation for the 2024 season.
ARLINGTON — North Crowley showed out on Saturday in its dazzling 50-21 victory over Austin Westlake in the 6A Division I state title game, winning the program’s second state championship and putting Fort Worth high school football on the map in front of 36,120 fans at AT&T Stadium.
Until North Crowley took the field at 7:30 p.m., there was a possibility the Dallas-Fort Worth area might boast only one state champion in 2024. Celina routed Kilgore 55-21 in the 4A Division I state championship to capture the program’s ninth state title and its first under coach Bill Elliott.
But North Texas teams came up short in the next three title games, the region’s worst showing at state since 2021, when South Oak Cliff became the first Dallas ISD school to win a recognized state championship since 1958, but Denton Guyer and Duncanville fell in the 6A state championship games.
Two-time state champion South Oak Cliff missed a last-second field goal, falling 38-35 to third-year program Richmond Randle in the 5A Division II state title game Friday night. It was SOC’s second straight loss in the state championship game.
“The future is still bright,” South Oak Cliff coach Jason Todd said. “We just gotta find out what’s going to get us over this hump.”
Smithson Valley, from the San Antonio area, topped Highland Park 32-20 as the six-time state champion faded in the second half of the 5A Division I state title game Saturday afternoon.
In the second game of the day, eight-time state champion Southlake Carroll extended its title drought to 13 years with a 24-17 loss to Austin Vandegrift in the 6A Division II game.
“It’ll happen one day. I’m excited about what the future holds,” said Carroll coach Riley Dodge, who fell to 0-2 in state title games as a coach.
The Dallas area claimed three football state champions in 2023 with Anna winning the 4A Division I state title and Duncanville and DeSoto sweeping the 6A Division I and II state championships, respectively. The southern Dallas County schools also swept the 6A state championships in 2022, when South Oak Cliff won its second straight 5A Division II state title.
But this year, the rest of Texas didn’t let the Dallas area, a high school football mecca, run the table. Teams from each of the state’s major metros — Austin, Dallas-Fort Worth, Houston and San Antonio —- won a title in each division of the UIL’s two highest classifications.
Even before this week’s state championship games, 2024 seemed to mark a changing of the guard. Neither Duncanville, DeSoto nor Houston-area power Galena Park North Shore made it to AT&T Stadium this year. Nor did 12-time UIL state champion Aledo, the juggernaut west of Fort Worth that had won the last two 5A Division I state championships.
But North Crowley did, after knocking off both DeSoto and Duncanville this season. North Texas might not have dominated the competition as it has in recent years, but for a third straight season, the king of 6A reigns in Dallas-Fort Worth.
“When you get to this point, there’s only one team that’s standing that’s hoisting the trophy. And fortunately for us, this year it’s us and we just happen to be from 817,” North Crowley coach Ray Gates said. “We’re elated to be able to bring that type of recognition back to our community, just to let people know that when you talk about this area, when you talk about Metroplex football, you can’t forget about us.”
On Twitter/X: @t_myah
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