美国国家公共电台 NPR--Texas House panel votes to raise the minimum age to buy AR-15-style rifles

Texas House panel votes to raise the minimum age to buy AR-15-style rifles

Transcript¹

Families of Uvalde shooting victims plan to keep fighting to advance a bill raising the minimum age to buy assault-style weapons. But in Texas, a committee vote may be as far as gun control can go.

MICHEL MARTIN, HOST:

There was cheering during a Texas House committee meeting this week in Austin. Two Republicans broke with their colleagues and voted with Democrats² to advance a bill to raise the minimum age to buy AR-15-style rifles from 18 to 21.

(CHEERING)

MARTIN: But despite this celebration and national media attention, the vote was still one small move toward gun control in a red state with little appetite for it. The Texas Newsroom's Sergio Martinez-Beltran has this report.

SERGIO MARTINEZ-BELTRAN, BYLINE³: The committee room was packed at capacity, with reporters lined in the back of the room and a mix of people wearing red shirts and T-shirts with the faces of their loved ones killed in mass shootings. It was an unexpected victory for gun control, but came after months of protests and advocacy.

NIKKI CROSS: It's about damn time.

MARI?NEZ-BELTRAN: Nikki Cross was there. Her 10-year-old son, Uziyah Garcia, was killed at Robb Elementary School in Uvalde nearly a year ago.

CROSS: We are - we're not going to go away. We're going to, you know, fight this all the way to the Senate.

MARI?NEZ-BELTRAN: But a vote in the Texas Senate is a long way from here. It needs to clear some key hurdles⁴, and in reality, it probably will not make it for a vote on the House floor. That's the truth. This is Texas. Here, you don't have to pass a background check to buy a gun. Here, it's legal to carry a concealed⁵ weapon without a permit. And there are no laws to prevent most people convicted of domestic abuse from possessing a firearm. That didn't stop Republican Representative Sam Harless from voting alongside Democrats. Harless hugged the parents of the Uvalde victims after the vote and cried with them.

SAM HARLESS: It's very emotional. You know, it's a lot of people.

MARI?NEZ-BELTRAN: Harless says he has two photos of 10-year-old Uziyah Garcia affixed⁶ to his computer that he looks at every day. One was a gift from Uziyah's parents.

HARLESS: It was the least we could do for the families. Shootings right now are just happening too often, so if this is something we can do to help stop it, then I'm all for it.

MARI?NEZ-BELTRAN: But just a couple of days later, reality has set in. The top Republican, Governor Greg Abbott, is still not talking about measures to restrict gun access, not even after the shooting last weekend at an outlet⁷ mall in Allen, Texas, that killed eight people, including a 3-year-old boy. During a press conference at the Austin airport this week, Abbott said he's waiting to learn more details about that shooter.

(SOUNDBITE OF PRESS CONFERENCE)

GREG ABBOTT: I believe in the coming days, the public will be much better informed about why and how this happened, and that will inform us, as Texas leaders, about next steps to take to try to prevent crimes like this from taking place in the future.

MARI?NEZ-BELTRAN: Those next steps, however, are almost guaranteed to not include gun control measures. Since Abbott took office in 2015, there have been 11 mass shootings, with at least four deaths in places like schools, churches and shops. At some point in 2018, very briefly⁸, Abbott considered so-called red flag laws. But years later, Abbott has shied away from them, in part because of the backlash from Republican leaders in Texas. And that's why it was surprising to see two Republican state representatives vote to advance the bill to raise the age to buy a semiautomatic rifle. I asked Representative Harless, one of the two, whether his vote puts him in a weird⁹ position with his party.

HARLESS: I've never made a vote worried about getting reelected. I make a vote for what I think is best for my community and my constituents¹⁰.

MARI?NEZ-BELTRAN: That vote of conscience could have political consequences.

For NPR News, I'm Sergio Martinez-Beltran in Austin.

(SOUNDBITE OF MUSIC)

1 transcript   

n.抄本，誊本，副本，肄业证书

参考例句：

• A transcript of the tapes was presented as evidence in court.一份录音带的文字本作为证据被呈交法庭。
• They wouldn't let me have a transcript of the interview.他们拒绝给我一份采访的文字整理稿。

2 democrats   

n.民主主义者，民主人士( democrat的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The Democrats held a pep rally on Capitol Hill yesterday. 民主党昨天在国会山召开了竞选誓师大会。
• The democrats organize a filibuster in the senate. 民主党党员组织了阻挠议事。 来自《简明英汉词典》

3 byline   

n.署名；v.署名

参考例句：

• His byline was absent as well.他的署名也不见了。
• We wish to thank the author of this article which carries no byline.我们要感谢这篇文章的那位没有署名的作者。

4 hurdles   

n.障碍( hurdle的名词复数 )；跳栏；（供人或马跳跃的）栏架；跨栏赛

参考例句：

• In starting a new company, many hurdles must be crossed. 刚开办一个公司时，必须克服许多障碍。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• There are several hurdles to be got over in this project. 在这项工程中有一些困难要克服。 来自辞典例句

5 concealed   

a.隐藏的，隐蔽的

参考例句：

• The paintings were concealed beneath a thick layer of plaster. 那些画被隐藏在厚厚的灰泥层下面。
• I think he had a gun concealed about his person. 我认为他当时身上藏有一支枪。

6 affixed   

adj.[医]附着的，附着的v.附加( affix的过去式和过去分词 )；粘贴；加以；盖（印章）

参考例句：

• The label should be firmly affixed to the package. 这张标签应该牢牢地贴在包裹上。
• He affixed the sign to the wall. 他将标记贴到墙上。 来自《简明英汉词典》

7 outlet   

n.出口/路；销路；批发商店；通风口；发泄

参考例句：

• The outlet of a water pipe was blocked.水管的出水口堵住了。
• Running is a good outlet for his energy.跑步是他发泄过剩精力的好方法。

8 briefly   

adv.简单地，简短地

参考例句：

• I want to touch briefly on another aspect of the problem.我想简单地谈一下这个问题的另一方面。
• He was kidnapped and briefly detained by a terrorist group.他被一个恐怖组织绑架并短暂拘禁。

9 weird   

adj.古怪的，离奇的；怪诞的，神秘而可怕的

参考例句：

• From his weird behaviour,he seems a bit of an oddity.从他不寻常的行为看来，他好像有点怪。
• His weird clothes really gas me.他的怪衣裳简直笑死人。

10 constituents   

n.选民( constituent的名词复数 )；成分；构成部分；要素

参考例句：

• She has the full support of her constituents. 她得到本区选民的全力支持。
• Hydrogen and oxygen are the constituents of water. 氢和氧是水的主要成分。 来自《简明英汉词典》