Amid the grief after the Parkland high school massacre, a powerful student activist movement emerged with stunning swiftness. It laid the foundation for nationwide demonstrations and a sustained push for gun law reform.



But in the wake of the fatal shooting of eight students and two teachers at a Texas high school on Friday, it seems doubtful that this highly conservative, deeply religious small town will generate similarly strident calls.

In a place of 13,000 residents and more than a dozen churches, the focus has been on prayers and siting the shooting in the context of a biblical battle between good and evil, rather than framing it as an avoidable consequence of policy failures in a country with a unique gun culture.

“Possibility, maybe. I’m not sure,” said David Sustaita, an 18-year-old student at Santa Fe high school, when asked if a Parkland-style youth movement could emerge. He suggested relatively uncontroversial measures that do not rile gun rights advocates. “I’d like to see action. Metal detectors, better security, more cops,” he said. “Like airport security.”

According to authorities, a 17-year-old student hid a shotgun and a revolver in a trench coat then opened fire in an art class at the school, about 35 miles south-east of Houston.

So far the most vocal demands have come from outside Santa Fe. Art Acevedo, the Houston police chief, wrote on Facebook: “Please do not post anything about guns aren’t the problem and there’s little we can do … This isn’t a time for prayers, and study and inaction, it’s a time for prayers, action and the asking of God’s forgiveness for our inaction (especially the elected officials that ran to the cameras today, acted in a solemn manner, called for prayers, and will once again do absolutely nothing).”

The elected officials that ran to the cameras today [and] called for prayers will once again do absolutely nothing Art Acevedo, Houston police chief

Dan Patrick, the Texas lieutenant governor, was derided by liberal critics for proposing “door control” after telling reporters: “We may have to look at the design of our schools moving forward and retrofitting schools that are already built … Had there been one single entrance possibly for every student, maybe he would have been stopped.”

Evidence suggests a higher rate of gun ownership is linked to a higher rate of gun homicides. But it would be awkward for Patrick and other senior Texas Republicans to recommend any measure that reduces access to weapons. They spend much of their time attempting to loosen gun regulations.

In recent years the Texas legislature – which meets in Austin, a mile or so from the site of the first mass shooting on a US college campus – has made it easier to bring concealed or openly-carried guns into many public spaces, including university campuses. Texas teachers are allowed to be armed in some, mainly rural, school districts, an idea embraced by Donald Trump after the deaths of 17 people in Florida in February.

‘Hearts without God’

Another major mass shooting occurred in Texas last November, at a church service in the tiny town of Sutherland Springs near San Antonio, with 26 killed and 20 injured. For many gun rights supporters it was in one respect a success story because the perpetrator was chased and shot by a civilian, Stephen Willeford.

At the National Rifle Association’s annual convention in Dallas two weeks ago, feted as a hero, Willeford couched his encounter with the killer in religious terms. “I yelled out and the only reason I can explain it is the Holy Spirit calling out the demon that was in him,” he told NRATV.

Like Trump, Greg Abbott, the Texas governor, and Ted Cruz, the US senator, gave speeches in Dallas. Abbott declared that the answer to gun violence is more weapons. “The problem is not guns, it’s hearts without God,” he said.

Texas senator Ted Cruz speaks during a vigil in Santa Fe. Photograph: Matt Patterson/EPA

In 2015, Abbott tweeted: “I’m EMBARRASSED: Texas #2 in nation for new gun purchases, behind CALIFORNIA. Let’s pick up the pace Texans @NRA”

Cruz and Abbott also spoke at a prayer vigil in Santa Fe on Friday attended by several hundred people, many wearing T-shirts with Christian messages. One man sported a handgun in a belt holster, taking advantage of an “open carry” law for licence-holders that went into effect in 2016. Another had a large tattoo of a cross on his right arm and wore a small knife in a sheath. As the result of a law that went into effect last September he would have been equally entitled to carry a long knife or a sword.

Abbott promised round-table discussions with politicians, parents and school officials. He has suggested he would support a quicker background check process.

“None of us knows why there’s evil in the world,” Cruz sermonised, the force of his soaring homily only slightly diminished by a microphone problem that intermittently cut him off mid-sentence.

‘I lost a really good friend’

Many demands for action post-Parkland have centred on banning assault-style firearms. But on Friday the shooter did not use an AR-15 rifle – the favoured weapon in many of the country’s deadliest mass shootings – and he appeared to have taken the guns from his father, who purchased them legally.

For all the people who are going to be pushing gun control: he didn’t buy these guns. They weren’t assault rifles Colin Rampy

“For all the people who are going to be pushing gun control: he didn’t buy these guns. They weren’t assault rifles,” said Colin Rampy, a 23-year-old chemical plant worker who attended the vigil.

“If I wanted to I could take a pistol, walk into a McDonald’s, I could even walk into a police station, and shoot a couple of people. It’s just because I have the advantage of the jump. No one expects you to pull your gun out and shoot somebody. And that’s honestly what it comes down to. You could have ten police officers on campus, what’s going to happen is they’re going to watch hundreds of kids walk past and their job is to identify a shooter but they’re not going to be able to identify until they see a gun or a shooting.”

Brandon Santell did not sound willing to settle for a fatalistic acceptance of the status quo. “I honestly believe our president should do something. I’m not going to [take] sides but he needs to come down here and help us out,” he said. The 15-year-old was close to tears; one of his best friends died on Friday. Another was slightly injured when a bullet ricocheted off a wall and grazed her foot.

“There’s a lot of strong people in Texas and I honestly believe we can make a difference in the world,” he said. “Evil thoughts cause all this and I don’t think anyone can actually stop an evil thought but weapons that are available to people, that just makes it easier to cause all this harm.”

Santell has a message for elected officials: “I really hope they notice that it keeps happening and it’s just going to keep getting worse. If they don’t do something I already know thousands will be upset and I know I will be because I lost a really good friend.”

He is considering switching schools. But would that really change anything? “As long as they can access weapons I don’t think anywhere’s safe,” he said.