There was a time when Texas was famous for the line Col. William Travis drew in the sand at the Alamo. The mission was surrounded by Mexican soldiers. Travis had been informed by Gen. Antonio López de Santa Anna that if he didn't surrender the Alamo, all of Travis' soldiers would be killed. Travis drew his sword and dragged it through the sand to make his famous line. His men could choose to surrender and leave the Alamo and their lives would be spared, or they could cross the line, remain with him at the Alamo and defend the honor of Texas to the death. Legend has it that all but one of Travis' men crossed the line and fought to defend the Alamo to the death.
The line in the sand for the state of Texas today is where you stand on gun violence and no one has crossed it to defend the citizens of Texas against the mass murderers who have taken the lives of 17 Texas citizens so far this year: five killed in a family's home in Cleveland on April 28; eight killed outside a shopping mall in Allen on May 6; and on Tuesday of this week, four family members killed in Texarkana by their 18-year-old son and brother. A year ago this week, 19 schoolchildren and two teachers were killed at an elementary school in Uvalde by another 18-year-old with an AR-15 semiautomatic rifle, the same weapon used in Cleveland and Allen.
