State lawmakers are continuing to tackle ways to better protect Texas students following the mass shooting at Santa Fe high school last month.

A recurring theme at committee hearings: more school counselors and better mental health screening and services for students. Several high school students showed up to tell lawmakers their counselors often aren't available because they're being used to monitor the cafeteria, for example.

"We definitely don't have adequate access to a person that we are comfortable talking to our problems about and are confident they will be able to help us understand and cope with that," Zoe Nanson, a high school student from Houston, said.  

Nanson said her school has two counselors for 600 students.

Experts testified today that one way to address the shortage would be to expand telemedicine to remotely screen students for mental health issues.

At another committee hearing on gun violence Thursday, lawmakers looked into prioritizing retired peace officers and military veterans for school security.

Some gun control measures have also been discussed including 'red flag' laws. That would mean temporarily restricting access to firearms for people who show signs of being a danger to themselves or others. 

But for Suzanna Hupp, it's been an ongoing fight against gun control.

She still faults a 1991 state law for leaving her helpless in a Killeen Luby's restaurant. She was eating lunch with her parents when a gunman drove a truck through the restaurant’s front window, got out and started shooting. He killed 23 people, including Hupp’s mother and father, before finally shooting himself.

“There were several of us that had our guns just feet away in our cars,” Hupp said.

Hupp advocated for concealed carry, which passed in 1995. She later became a state lawmaker.

Click the video link above to hear her full interview including her involvement with the ongoing school safety solutions.