TEXAS — In the wake of the mass shooting in Uvalde, lawmakers on both sides of the aisle called on Texas Gov. Greg Abbott to reconvene the Legislature for a special session. While Abbott stopped short of that demand, he did direct the Texas House and Senate to form special legislative committees to make recommendations in response to the shooting.

The special Senate committee is made up of eight Republicans and three Democrats, including Sen. Royce West of Dallas. It does not, however, include the state senator who represents Uvalde, Sen. Roland Gutierrez. He addressed that during a press conference Thursday in Uvalde.

"At the end of the day it is a slap in the face to the Latinos of this community, to everyone in this community,” Gutierrez said. 

West said that the choice of who is on the committee is up to Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick, and lawmakers now need to focus on what comes next. The senator says he’s ready to reach across the aisle to find solutions, even if reaching a compromise will be a challenge. 

“The reality is this, we know we live in a state that is, frankly, very supportive of the [National Rifle Association]," West said during an interview on Capital Tonight. “We know that the leadership is supported by the NRA. So I don’t think we’re going to see any real change…even though the majority of the citizens of this state want us to come up with compromises.”

West says he’s in support of things like stronger background checks, red flag laws and raising the minimum age to purchase an assault rifle from 18 to 21.

“If we had that in place some of these shootings would not have occurred,” he said.