BIG caveat that the mother's attorney would say this as a preemptive defense . . .
BUT the alleged story is the perfect example of how a Red Flag law may have mattered, a law that was rejected by Texas by Governor Abbott following the last mass shooting. Abbot is overwhelmingly supported by the NRA, so much so that after the last mas shooting he aunted Texans that they shouldn't let Californians buy more guns than them.
https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/family-suspected-el-paso-gunman-say-they-don-t-share-n1040266
"The mother of the 21-year-old man accused of killing 22 people at an El Paso, Texas, Walmart called police weeks before the shooting concerned that her son owned an "AK" type gun, his family's attorneys said Wednesday.
Chris Ayres and R. Jack Ayres, who represent the family of suspect Patrick Wood Crusius, told CNN that the man’s mother called police in Allen, Texas, over concerns about the firearm given his age, maturity level and lack of experience. They say the mother was transferred to a public safety officer who said that based on her description, the 21-year-old was an adult legally allowed to own the weapon."
The police department claims the story is false and it might be, BUT the mother's attorney is describing the exact process that, in post-Parkland Florida, would have likely resulted in a petition to the Court to take his guns.
If he had to be "adjudicated a mental incompetent" (my prediction for the GOP version of a RF law) they never take his guns because of the cost and time of a trial.
