Houston mayor taps members of his anti-gun violence council

HOUSTON, Texas (KTRK) -- Houston students, parents, doctors, and law enforcement officials, among many others, comprise Mayor Sylvester Turner's soon-to-be convened Commission Against Gun Violence.

On Wednesday, 37 individuals were announced as part of the council, which the city of Houston says will "develop and propose specific recommendations to improve gun safety in our schools, neighborhoods and communities through action on the local, state and federal levels."

This has become a key issue for Turner, who showed his solidarity with the national student-led movement March for Our Lives earlier this year.

"I'm not interested in engaging in a political battle or fight against any organization," Turner said. "But I am interested in coming up with ideas that can make society safer for our children, irrespective of where they come from, their religious beliefs or languages they speak, because the shooters have demonstrated they do not respect human life."

Turner even invoked the Santa Fe tragedy for urging for tougher gun orders.

"You can't walk into city hall without going through metal detectors and our children deserve the same protection in their schools," the mayor said.

According to Turner's office, the commission will get "the time and resources it needs to research and submit recommendations." Turner is also pressing the commission to submit some of those recommendations before the next school year, with the rest of guidelines given before the start of the 2019 Texas Legislative session.

Among the members announced for the commission, Archbishop Joseph Fiorenza, Houston police Chief Art Acevedo, and Harris County Sheriff Ed Gonzalez.

You can view the full list of commission members here.