In 2013, co-founders Frances Schenkkan and Dr. Juno Woods expanded on the 2007 organization, Students for Gun-Free Schools in Texas, to create Texas Gun Sense, with a broader focus on public safety. The mission of Texas Gun Sense is “. . . to prevent gun violence and other gun tragedies in Texas through education, partnerships, and policy change. We achieve this mission through a multi-faceted approach centering around education, collaboration, and advocacy.”
Texas uses a common-sense approach to political action and, in doing so, has achieved some careful, measured success in Texas. The 2015 launch of The Texas Coalition to Prevent Gun Violence, an alliance of organizations and experts working on gun violence prevention, is one such success, as is the Texas Invest in Us Coalition, designed to secure investment for violence intervention. TGS works politically to prevent dangerous laws from being passed as well as supporting and advocating for new laws. And it
works educationally, an example being its webinar series, “Education to End Gun Violence.” Go to txgunsense.org for more information.
In 2023, during the 88th session of the Texas Legislature, TGS was successful in working with a lawmaker to add a measure to the school safety legislation (HB 3) that requires school districts to educate every child’s parent or caregiver about safe gun storage. The work goes on!
On Sunday, October 13th the collection will promote Texas Gun Sense.
