Texas mulls school safety days after mass shooting

TexasGovernor Greg Abbott is set to begin a three-day series of discussions with educators and law enforcement officials on improvingschoolsafetyon Tuesday, daysaftera teenager killed 10 people at a Houston-area highschool.

Abbott will meet with two dozen people, including supporters and opponents of arming teachers, following the fourth-deadliest USschoolshootingthis year at Santa Fe HighSchoolin Santa Fe, Texason Friday.

"I am seeking the best solutions to make ourschools more secure and to keep our communities safe," he said in a statement. "I look forward to hearing from all sides of the debate, and from expert perspectives on these issues."

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Abbott, a Republican, has vowed that any changes to state laws would "protect Second Amendment rights."

The Second Amendment of the USConstitution enshrines the right to bear arms. Gun rights proponents say it prohibits regulations on gun ownership and that enforcement of existing laws should be sufficient to stop violent incidents like the one in Santa Fe.

Gun control groups point to the regular toll ofshootings across the United States as evidence that more needs to be done to rein in the proliferation of weapons.

The USSupreme Court has avoided major gun cases for a number of years, leaving in place restrictions on guns enacted by some states.

In contrast to Florida, where the killing of 17 teens and educators in February sparked a youth-led movement calling for new restrictions on gun ownership, theTexastragedy saw elected officials and survivors alike voicing support for gun rights.

Some gun rights proponents inTexashave embraced the idea of arming teachers, a strategy advocated by the National Rifle Association and USPresident Donald Trump. That solution is largely rejected by survivors and parents in Parkland, Florida,afterthe carnage there.

Police arrested Dimitrios Pagourtzis, 17, at the Santa Feschoolfollowing the rampage they said he committed with a shotgun and .38-caliber pistol. He is charged with capital murder of 10 people - eight students and two teachers.

Police said Pagourtzis confessed to Friday's killingsafterhe was taken into custody, but they have offered no motive yet for themassacre.

He is being held without bond, on suicide watch, at the Galveston County Jail in nearby Galveston, Sheriff Henry Trochesset said.

Pagourtzis' family said in a statement it was "saddened and dismayed" by theshooting.