Public Safety & Justice

We all deserve to live in a safe neighborhood. And as your Senator, your safety will always be my top priority.

Public safety means ensuring law enforcement has the resources to investigate and prosecute crime. It means passing commonsense gun safety laws to keep firearms out of the hands of criminals. And it means listening to police chiefs when they tell us we will all be safer when we fund programs like mental health care, housing support, addiction treatment, and youth services to prevent crime before it happens. 

Unfortunately, when it comes to public safety issues, we’re often too busy talking past each other instead of working together on solutions. But here’s what gives me hope in what we can achieve if we start finding common ground:

In my first term as a state legislator, a constituent named John sent me an angry message. He accused me of being a “Democrat who wants to take away everyone’s guns.” Instead of getting into a fight online, I asked him to meet in person over coffee — and he actually accepted.

John turned out to be a good guy; he even brought his wife and kids. He was a gun enthusiast and a certified NRA safety officer. And the more we talked, the more we realized we shared something important: we both care deeply about safety. I talked about how many of my constituents had been victims of gun violence. He talked about how responsible gun owners are often the biggest advocates for safety.

Once we were actually listening to each other, we found real consensus — on background checks and other common-sense steps to keep guns out of the hands of felons, domestic abusers, and anyone who’s a threat to themselves or others.

When we sit down as neighbors instead of opponents, we discover we’re fighting for the same thing: safe schools, safe streets, safe communities. And when every Texan feels safe, every Texan can thrive.

This is not a comprehensive list! If you have policy ideas you want to see from your next U.S. Senator, please reach out HERE. We want to hear from you!

• Address the root causes of crime: Prioritize services like well-funded schools, youth programs, mental health care, and substance abuse treatment as critical investments to prevent crime before it happens. 
• Strengthen law enforcement agencies: Ensure law enforcement agencies at the federal, state, and local level have the resources necessary to investigate and prosecute criminals, and support strong investments in police training, oversight, and accountability. 
• Support survivors of crime: Expand funding for the Victims of Crime Act and Violence Against Women Act to better support survivors with financial, legal, housing, and counseling support.
• Protect the Second Amendment while protecting our neighbors from gun violence: Establish universal background checks for gun sales, prioritize the prosecution of firearms traffickers who are illegally flooding our communities with guns that get into the hands of criminals, require firearms to be securely stored around children in the home, and raise the age to purchase semi-automatic rifles with certain military-style features like high-capacity magazines. 
• Legalize regulated marijuana for adults: Ensure law enforcement is focused on going after violent crime and not low-level marijuana offenses, expunge criminal arrest records related to marijuana use, and regulate and impose taxes on its sale to support public safety and health programs.
• Invest in strong reentry programs: Invest in job training, housing, and treatment that reduce recidivism and provide formerly incarcerated people with the tools they need to successfully rejoin their communities

• Honored the service of our law enforcement officers with the first bill I ever passed as a state legislator, which renamed the major highway in my district after a fallen officer — Chris Kelley — who gave his life in service to our community.
• Supported survivors of crime by creating the Sexual Assault Survivors’ Task Force, strengthening domestic violence protective orders, providing housing and treatment grants for human trafficking victims, and extending the statute of limitations for sexual assault offenses.
• Banned reality TV policing in Texas: After a constituent of mine was murdered by police on “Live PD” for having his brights on, I passed Javier Ambler’s Law to ban reality TV policing that encourages violent encounters to boost TV ratings.
• Supported commonsense gun violence prevention by increasing penalties for mass shooting perpetrators and opposing legislation allowing for the permitless carry of firearms in Texas.
• Strengthened rehabilitation and reentry programs by passing a law to provide every incarcerated minor the opportunity to graduate with a high school diploma.
• Held criminals accountable by voting for legislation requiring drunk drivers to pay restitution to a child whose parent they killed, preventing animal abusers from possessing animals after their conviction, and addressing the use of AI to create sexually explicit images of a minor.
• Addressed abuses in the Texas juvenile justice system by increasing transparency within detention facilities, shining a spotlight on sexual assault and other abuses against detained children, and advocating for a system that truly rehabilitates and heals kids.
• Improved safety within educational settings by increasing child care providers’ access to active shooter and other safety trainings.