On Aug. 5, a day after a gunman walked into an El Paso Walmart and killed 22 people, Aaron Blackmon texted his mother, a Dallas City Council member, urging her to act to curb gun violence.

"You should get a city ordinance passed on some sort of gun control," the 22-year-old wrote.

The newly elected council member, Paula Blackmon, told him it would be challenged in court. "But good idea," she added.

"At least show you care," he responded.

After recent mass shootings in El Paso and Odessa, Republican state legislators in Texas face mounting pressure to reduce gun violence. Gov. Greg Abbott issued a list of recommendations, which included harsher penalties on illegal purchases. Democratic presidential candidate Beto O'Rourke has supported confiscating all assault-style weapons.

But in Dallas, elected officials have mostly been quiet to address whether firearm policies play a role in the city's recent rise in violent crime.

Some council members say that conversation has been long overdue.

"My attitude is, when I have my 22-year-old texting me and telling me, 'You're now in a position to do something about guns,' we really should do it," Blackmon said shortly after the fatal shooting of 9-year-old Brandoniya Bennett, who was killed when someone fired into her Old East Dallas apartment last month.

This summer Dallas has seen a spike in violent crime. Dallas Police Department officials in June said the city was on pace to end the year with 228 homicides — the highest count in a decade. In May police reported 40 homicides, the highest monthly total since the 1990s. City officials have said the accessibility of guns has been a factor.

Council member Adam Bazaldua said he believes in Second Amendment rights, but that leaders must be more proactive beyond offering "thoughts and prayers" when a tragedy strikes.

"We can do a lot more as local leaders and legislators on every level to make this more of a conversation," Bazaldua said. "When uncomfortable conversations happen, usually some sort of resolution is found at some point. But the conversation has to get started first."

Limits imposed

Mayor Eric Johnson last month began a task force to address violent crime. But the former state representative said the city has few options for gun regulations due to Texas' restrictions on local laws.

State law prohibits cities from adopting regulations on "the transfer, private ownership, keeping, transportation, licensing, or registration of firearms, air guns, knives, ammunition, or firearm or air gun supplies," according to the state statute.

Cities can still regulate certain aspects of firearm use, such as restricting the discharge of firearms outside of shooting ranges or in cases of an "insurrection, riot or natural disaster" for public safety.

"The question is how effective some of those limited tools are," Johnson said. "The gun situation in Texas is a tricky one, but the reality is we need action at a higher level."

Johnson cited cities' voluntary gun buybacks, for example, which he believes wouldn't make much of a difference on violent crime.

The state laws leave council members skeptical of what more they can do. Council member Cara Mendelsohn said she doesn't know whether the city can act but believes such an action should be addressed at a council committee. Council member Lee Kleinman said while he believes comprehensive background checks are important, he thinks additional laws would only burden gun owners without changing their behavior.

But council member Tennell Atkins said the city needs to ensure "the right laws" are in place to prevent firearms from getting in the hands of the wrong people. Council member David Blewett said Johnson's task force is a good step to identifying the "root causes" of the crime uptick.

"It's critically important that we correctly identify the root causes of all this violence," Blewett said Friday.

Council member Chad West echoed concerns over state laws. He said he has a concealed handgun license and is a gun owner but believes that "in many situations, our laws are too lax."

"Why should we have to register a vehicle and have a license to operate it and record transactions of sale, but we don't have to do so for guns?" West wrote in a statement. "It makes no sense."

As a Dallas state representative, Johnson's previous efforts for local carve-outs at the state level failed; last month he signed a letter with a coalition of mayors urging the U.S. Senate to pass laws that would strengthen background checks, and he's said action in Congress would be the most effective way to address gun violence.

But Amanda Johnson, a survivor fellow on Moms Demand Action for Gun Sense and member of the mayor's task force, said she considers firearms to be the key issue Dallas will have to address in its efforts to curb violent crime.

One major push for her will be implementation of an Operation Ceasefire program, a policing strategy that started in Boston to prevent violence and deter at-risk youth from criminal activity by having trusted mediators work with community and gang leaders."

"Guns are really the crux of the problem here," she said.

Special cases

City officials have already made some efforts to protect domestic violence victims from guns in the hands of abusers. Municipal courts have already started to report those convicted of Class C family violence offenses to the state and FBI — essentially blocking them from legally purchasing a firearm.

Council member Jennifer Staubach Gates, who was chairwoman of the city task force on domestic violence under former mayor Mike Rawlings, said her office and Dallas Police Department representatives have also had conversations with officials in Seattle about its program to keep illegal firearms away from domestic violence perpetrators.

But because of Texas' restriction on local laws, Dallas is more limited, Gates said. She said Odessa's shooting also highlighted private sale loopholes she thinks the state should close.

"I believe that we need to have some changes," Gates said, adding that she'd be open to any suggestions such as ways to flag mental health concerns and suicidal risk. "Government's primary role is to keep people safe. And we have too many instances where public safety is at risk."

More than 62% of gun deaths in Texas are suicides, according to the San Francisco-based Giffords Law Center to Prevent Gun Violence.

The center reported that more than 61% of intimate partner homicides involved a gun, and 691 women between 2007 and 2016 were killed with a gun by their partner.

Council member Jaime Resendez, a criminal defense attorney, said in his experience with family violence cases, protective orders haven't stopped abusers. And he said he believes everything should be on the table at the state.

"We should do more," said Resendez, who has a concealed handgun license. "As a veteran, I have experience with high-powered weapons, and I'm not so sure they have a place on our streets. ... I'm definitely not opposed to doing as much as we can on the city level to ensure that our residents are as safe as possible."

What's next

Allison Anderman, an attorney at the Giffords Law Center, said Texas' statute prevents cities from implementing many gun regulations — with some exceptions that "are of little consequence."

With the influence of lobbyists, weak laws and a strong gun culture, "you have a lot of gun deaths." Anderman said the state also hasn't invested in the types of intervention programs shown to be effective in curbing gun violence in underserved neighborhoods.

Pushed by her son, council member Blackmon said she would support some city action on guns, even if it faces lawsuits, to prompt discussion.

"We're not prohibiting access to guns, but we want to make sure that people who have guns are not causing harm to our residents," the District 9 council member said. "While it could be challenged, why can't cities band together and say, 'We have to do something'?"

Aaron Blackmon said the El Paso shooting hit close to home — not just because it was in Texas, but because he knew someone who grew up with one of the victims, a man who died with his wife protecting their child.

Talk of action "at least gets the conversation going," he said. "If you're trying to make a concerted effort, it just shows that you care about your community and you care about the future of our nation."