Lawmakers have to do something to help protect students in the wake of Friday's Texas high school shooting, said Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas.
Hours after a 17-year-old gunman killed 10 people and wounded 10 others at Santa Fe High School near Houston, Cruz spoke at a press conference with Texas Gov. Greg Abbott and other officials.
"There's been too damn many of these. Texas has seen too many of these," Cruz said. "We've seen deranged bombers murdering innocent people, or six months ago in Sutherland Springs, another evil criminal murdering innocent people."
Last November, 26 people were slaughtered in a Sutherland Springs church shooting by a 26-year-old man who later killed himself.
Cruz said lawmakers must take action, echoing a similar call from Abbott at the same press briefing.
"In the public policy arena, we need to do everything humanly possible from stopping this from happening again to stop violent criminals," Cruz said. "To stop them from getting firearms … To incarcerate them when they try to illegally purchase firearms."
There were similar calls for various forms of gun control after 14 students and three adults were killed in a Florida high school shooting in February. Florida legislatures passed a bill, which Gov. Rick Scott signed, that raised the minimum age to buy rifles to 21, made changes to the background check process, and banned bump stock devices.