'I am going to do something': Beto O'Rourke shreds Greg Abbott for refusing to combat gun violence

Democratic Texas gubernatorial candidate Beto O'Rourke was escorted out of a press conference by police on Wednesday after he confronted incumbent Republican Governor Greg Abbott over Tuesday's mass shooting at Robb Elementary School in Uvalde that left 19 students and two teachers dead.

The former three-term Congressman, however, was undeterred.

Outside, O'Rourke unleashed hell on Abbott, who last year signed a near-universal open carry law eliminating state background checks, permit requirements, and basic training for firearm owners.

"Texas is 50th in the nation in mental health access. 50th. There are only 50 states in the nation. We are dead last," O'Rourke told the crowd. "The number one provider of mental care services under Greg Abbott and the State of Texas is the county jail system. In the State of Texas, the largest inpatient mental health care facility is the Harris County Jail in downtown Houston."

Abbott, O'Rourke continued, "has refused to expand Medicaid, which would bring $10 billion a year, including mental care access," adding that a "red flag law" would prevent troubled individuals from harming themselves or others and "protect the public."

But Abbott "has refused these reviews" and "refused to support safe storage laws so young people cannot get their hands on their parents' guns. Why? He refused," O'Rourke said.

Abbott has also "refused to support a ban on AR-15s and AK-47s," O'Rourke pointed out. The 18-year-old gunman "bought an AR-15 and took it to an elementary school and shot kids in the face and killed them," he noted.

"Why are we letting this happen in this country?" O'Rourke asked of the nonstop slaughter. "Why is this happening in this state year after year? City after city. This is on all of us. If we do not do something – I am going to do something. And I am not alone. The people of Texas are with us, the majority of the people of Texas are with us. But we've gotta stand up to this or we just accept this theater and business-as-usual and we accept the next shooting."

O'Rourke added that "we could have stopped this if we had stood up after Santa Fe High School, if we had stood up after El Paso. We are gonna stop the next one. We're standing up right here in Uvalde, Texas right now. That's why I'm here. So what the people of Texas want right now, that's what we're going to focus on."

Watch below via Brandon Friedman: