HOUSTON – His stance on gun law reform is coming under fire, but HPD Chief Art Acevedo says it won’t stop him from speaking out.
Acevedo has been vocal since Friday's shooting at Santa Fe High School, which he says motivated him to comment on Twitter about holding gun owners more responsible for their weapons.
The message began by Acevedo speaking on his frustrations with those who were looking to divert the conversation from gun laws, when 10 lives were lost because of gun violence.
“I know the majority of America is pragmatic and it’s time that we take control of the narrative and drown out the extremes,” Acevedo said.
As a gun owner himself, Acevedo tells us his intentions are not to limit the second amendment rights of law-abiding citizens.
“None of us want to see gun confiscation,” Acevedo said.
With that in mind, he says there needs to be action taken against those who are irresponsible, are criminals or are in psychological distress and find access to guns.
His tweets set off a ballistic response from the National Rifle Association, who characterized Acevedo’s comments as a threat against the rights of all Americans.
NRA TV hosts slammed Acevedo and HPD for not taking a stronger stance on gangs and immigration, but it seemed more of a diversion than a rebuttal.
“Acevedo clearly doesn’t care. He would rather go against you the NRA member, than MS13 gang members,” said Grant Stinchfield of NRA TV.
Acevedo tells us he used to think very highly of the NRA, but lately the organization has “become very radical, which is actually pretty sad because the majority of their members are actually pretty good people,” Acevedo said.
What some call talking politics, Acevedo says is common sense. We need to have consequences for those who can not properly store their weapons without fear of the weapon falling into the wrong hands.
In the case of the alleged Santa Fe shooter, the weapons used in the attack were not his own, but rather his father’s.
What those consequences could be, is still unclear for Acevedo. At the school level however, he’s focused on implementing stronger security measures like metal detectors you may find in inner-city school across the country.
“Those are real tough cities with real violent crime, but because of their safety measures in schools, they don’t seem to be impacted like you see in suburbia,” Acevedo said.
Where you stand, right or left, doesn’t really matter to Acevedo. These are the lives of our children at stake and at the end of the day all we need to is act.
As for the critics, he hasn’t forgotten about you.
“I’ll be watching closely and so are my lawyers…I withhold as an American citizen the right to not have people defame me or most importantly evoke a response,” Acevedo said.
In one tweet, Acevedo did share an email screenshot of NRA TV producers asking for him to make an appearance. Acevedo replied back telling them they had already mischaracterized his statements once, so he declines.