Another mass shooting in Texas: We need to get angry, not complacent

he weekend saw yet another evildoer open fire on innocent victims — this time carnage at a crowded party of young people near Greenville celebrating college homecoming festivities.

Two more dead people and at least six others injured in yet another mass shooting in this state. That more of the hundreds who were gathered Saturday night weren’t killed or injured sadly feels like a victory.

That should sicken us all.

But this state can’t afford to get complacent and not press ahead with finding reasonable solutions to this senseless violence. There was even gunfire at a vigil for one of the victims on Sunday at a Pleasant Grove park.

On Monday afternoon, authorities arrested Brandon Ray Gonzales on a capital murder charge. They still have not identified a motive.

What we know is that police say around midnight Saturday, a man used a handgun to shoot the victims who were at a party venue as nearby Texas A&M University-Commerce celebrated homecoming weekend.

The bloody scene left Kevin Berry Jr., a 23-year-old from Dallas, and Byron Craven, also 23, of Arlington, dead, authorities said. They add to a growing list of Texas mass shooting fatalities. Recent back-to-back shooting massacres in Texas left 29 people dead in El Paso and Odessa in less than a month.

After those tragedies, this newspaper applauded Texas leaders for their proposals on common-sense strategies for tackling these tragedies.

First Gov. Greg Abbott issued executive orders aimed at better information sharing and training for local and state law enforcement agencies. And leaders of both chambers of the Texas Legislature announced they would form interim committees to create policies to prevent this kind of violence and improve public safety.

Even Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick, a staunch supporter of the National Rifle Association, said he will defy the organization and work to close a loophole in the law that doesn’t require background checks for stranger-to-stranger sales of firearms.

Those are steps in the right direction. But we’ve had enough talking. We’re past the time for needed action.

People ought to be able to gather at a party without worrying that they will be shot. It was a gathering of young people in Greenville this weekend, and it could be where any of us are gathered tomorrow.

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