Whitman shooter: 'It’s the high-capacity magazines, stupid'

I had high hopes that the bipartisan committee working on gun issues would be the beginning of baby steps toward creating sensible gun laws to reduce the carnage that prevails in our country. Those hopes were dashed when Sen. John Cornyn was repeatedly booed at the State Republican Convention in Houston last Friday because the Republicans said reforms will violate their “God-given rights.”

Sen. Ted Cruz wants to turn our schools into fortresses. What is he going to do for school buses? What is to prevent a shooter from shooting the driver and then shooting the children who don't have a means to escape. That can also happen in stores, churches and any venue where people gather.

The answer is blowing in the wind; “It’s the high-capacity magazine, stupid!”

Lt. Gov. Patrick requested $50 million for shields for school police and in April, Gov. Abbott cut $211 million from the department that oversees mental health programs. It appears that money in Texas is no problem.

My suggestion to minimize this problem is as follows:

Excluding police and the military, make it a felony to posses a magazine capable of holding more than 10 rounds. It could be called “The Children Killer Magazine Law.”

Current owners of weapons with high-capacity magazines could exchange their magazines courtesy of the state of Texas. If necessary the state could finance thismagazine exchange program with funds from the "Rainy Day Fund," which had a balance of about $11.4 billion in 2021.

Gun owners would get to keep their beloved weapons sans high-capacity magazines.

I would consider this the first step and then proceed to age, mental health, etc.

Hearing Doctor Roy Guerrero (the pediatrician who treated the mass shooting victimsin Uvalde) describe the mutilation of the children's bodies brought back memories that still haunt me 56 years later.

At the University of Texas Tower, as I made my way up the stairs backed by civilian Allen Crum, I came upon the body of 13-year-old Mark Gabour, who was Charles Whitman's first victim, killed with a shotgun blast to the head.

Every time there is a mass shooting, this image and others haunt me as I try to sleep. My only recourse is to write in hopes that someone may listen and come up with a solution. Like they say, the power of the pen is greater than the sword.

I know shootings can happen. I recall while stationed in Laredo as a Texas Ranger another haunting image, the accidental shooting of a young boy. He was shot in the head with a .257 Roberts rifle cartridge by a friend.

I wish Dr. Guerrero the best of luck in coping with what he witnessed.

If all else fails I wish the teachers in America would go on strike and say enough is enough. We are not going back to school until children can be safe there. But why put it on the teachers? Where are the parents?

In the meantime, the NRA as a courtesy to their political supporters should send them preprinted Our Thoughts And Prayers cards, so when the next mass killing happens in their district, all they have to do is fill in the blanks of the victims’ families and the name of the deceased.

I am 85 years old and I don't have much time left on this earth, but I want it to be better than I found it when I was born.

May God bless America with an abundance of common sense!

A retired Texas Ranger, Martinez was one of two Austin police officers who engaged University of Texas Tower sniper Charles Whitman in a gunbattle and killed him.

This article originally appeared on Austin American-Statesman: Opinion: It’s the high-capacity magazines, stupid