Victor Ortega BROWNSVILLE – With safety at the forefront, a new bill proposed by a local representative aims to offer municipalities more options to prevent gun violence; starting in libraries.
Written by District 38 State Representative D- Brownsville, Erin Gámez, House Bill 1138 would allow local governments to prohibit firearms in county-operated libraries if it passed in the 2025 Texas legislature.
KVAQ-TV spoke with Rep. Gámez to learn more about this proposed bill.
“We are not in any way, shape or form banning anyone’s Second Amendment right to carry or interfering with that,” Gámez said. “We are simply saying, ‘Look, your local municipality for example, the city, who runs the library, should be able to decide based on their in touch, entuned, on the ground discussions with their constituents whether or not to allow individuals to openly or concededly carry in a public library.’”
Government officials and security officers would still be allowed to carry firearms if House Bill 1138 were to be enacted by a municipality.
Gámez said this bill comes in response to a fatal shooting that took place last year in Brownsville’s Public Library Main Branch premises.
“On May 11, 2024, we had the very tragic and challenging passing of Vahid Khaledi. It was a senseless death that occurred at our Brownsville public library,” Gámez said. “And this bill actually came from discussions from multiple constituents asking me ‘Erin, can you please try to file something to shed light on this issue?’”
According to Brownsville Police, a verbal altercation between 33-year-old Humberto Paz and 71-year-old Vahid Khaledi resulted in Paz fatally shooting Khaledi.
The cause of the argument is unknown.
As of today, the city of Brownsville has not issued a statement on House Bill 1138.
More updates on House Bill 1138 to come as the Texas legislature develops.
