UVALDE, Texas — Now that the Texas House committee report is out, what comes next?
We're six months away from the time lawmakers will convene in Austin for the next legislative session.
The 77-page report that was released Sunday laid out the facts of what happened at Robb Elementary, not policy proposals. But the chair of the House dedication committee said that based on what he's read, there need to be several bills drafted.
State Representative Harold Dutton has a unique perspective.
“Frankly, as the chair of public education, I think the safest place on the planet ought to be for a child, to be at school," said Dutton.
First elected in the 1980s, he's one of the longest-serving members of the Texas House, and in the last session, he chaired the public education committee.
After reading the report on Uvalde, Dutton said one of his biggest takeaways is people needing to speak up.
“We tell people all the time, if you see something, say something right, well who do you say it to? Right now, we are simply saying it to each other and that’s got to change”
“Frankly, this shooter had a history and there wasn’t anyone in his background that got him any help," said Eva Guzman, one of the members of the Texas House committee.
According to the report, the gunman wasn't in school for the last two years.
"And we couldn’t find any evidence in the record that there had been any truancy officers out to his house to check on him," said Guzman.
The committee also pointed out the school didn't follow its own policy on locking exterior doors, giving the shooter a way in, noting there are some 80,000 school buildings in Texas that need to be secured to keep students safe.
“The question becomes what are we going to do with it, what do we do, what happens next," said Dutton.
While Rep. Dutton said he expects lots of issues around school safety to be debated in Austin, there's one thing that tops his list.
“I don’t think you should be 18 and be able to go out and buy an AK-47," said Dutton. “We raised the age to buy cigarettes from 18 to 21. What’s more dangerous?"
Keep in mind, the report released Friday is not final. The investigative committee said they are still waiting on autopsy reports. All information lawmakers will want to have when they start drafting bills next year.