Texas Governor Greg Abbott on Thursday issued eight executive orders in an attempt to check mass shootings following incidents of gun violence in El Paso and Odessa in August.

29 people were killed and several others injured in the incidents heaping pressure on the governor to act in the wake of the killings.

The orders signed by Abbott are aimed at strengthening the reporting requirements for law enforcement involving suspicious individuals and raise public awareness about identifying potential mass shooters.

Abbot pledged to work with the legislature on laws to keep guns away from dangerous criminals while protecting the 2nd Amendment rights of law-abiding Texans.

“Texas must achieve several objectives to better protect our communities and our residents from mass shootings.” Abbott said in a statement.

The orders’ provisions include developing standardized intake questions to better identify information that should be reported to the state Suspicious Activity Reporting Network. Additionally, the Texas Department of Public Safety has been ordered to develop programs to raise awareness of how such reports are used to flag potential mass shooters.

The orders also urge the state Department of Public Safety and the governor’s office to increase staff at “all fusion centers in Texas” to better monitor social media and online forums for possible threats on top of monitoring suspicious activity reports.

According to another order, from the start of January next year all future grant awards from the Office of the Governor to counties will need a commitment that the county will report at least 90 percent of convictions within seven business days to the Criminal Justice Information System at the Department of Public Safety.

A report of recommendations from meetings of the Texas Safety Commission, formed after the El Paso shooting, is expected to be released next week.

Source(s): The Hill