--- description: Texas Gov. Greg Abbott joked about shooting reporters while visiting a gun range and carrying a target sheet with bullet holes in it title: Texas Governor Greg Abbott Jokes About Shooting Reporters While at Gun Range image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltcb4ef2233e0fc079/6988cf33bc6cfced9c3e190a/gettyimages-657311250.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  * [U.S.](/section/us/) ## U.S. Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close # Texas Governor Greg Abbott Jokes About Shooting Reporters While at Gun Range by [Lisa Marie Segarra](/author/lisa-marie-segarra/) ## Lisa Marie Segarra Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close May 26, 2017 8:27 PM CUT  Texas Governor Greg Abbott Texas Governor Greg AbbottMandel Ngan—Getty/AFP by [Lisa Marie Segarra](/author/lisa-marie-segarra/) ## Lisa Marie Segarra Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close May 26, 2017 8:27 PM CUT Texas Gov. [Greg Abbott](http://time.com/4770164/texas-greg-abbott-sanctuary-cities-ban/ "undefined") joked about shooting reporters while visiting a gun range and carrying a target sheet with bullet holes in it. As he was holding the bullet-ridden target, Abbott allegedly said, “I’m gonna carry this around in case I see any reporters,” [according to the Texas _Tribune_.](https://www.texastribune.org/2017/05/26/texas-gov-greg-abbott-signs-measure-reduce-handgun-license-fee/ "undefined") The incident happened Friday as Abbott was at the range signing a bill into law lowering the cost of a handgun license in [Texas](http://www.thedrive.com/tech/10695/texas-legislature-overrules-austin-uber-and-lyft-to-return "undefined") the _Tribune_ reported. Abbott’s office did not immediately respond to TIME’s request for comment. > [](https://twitter.com/PatrickSvitek/status/868118572752568322) The comment comes shortly after another incident of violence against a reporter. A _Guardian_ reporter said that Montana Republican Greg Gianforte [“body slammed”](http://time.com/4793561/greg-gianforte-ben-jacobs-guardian-body-slam/ "undefined") him and broke his glasses Wednesday night. Gianforte, who won a special election for Montana’s congressional seat on Thursday night, was charged with misdemeanor assault ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4796353/texas-governor-greg-abbott-shoot-reporters-gun-joke/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4796353/texas-governor-greg-abbott-shoot-reporters-gun-joke/"},"headline":"Texas Governor Greg Abbott Jokes About Shooting Reporters While at Gun Range","datePublished":"2017-05-26T20:27:27.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-23T05:08:44.748Z","description":"The Texas governor made the joke while carrying a bullet-ridden target sheet","url":"https://time.com/4796353/texas-governor-greg-abbott-shoot-reporters-gun-joke/","keywords":["Texas","Government","onetime"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltcb4ef2233e0fc079/6988cf33bc6cfced9c3e190a/gettyimages-657311250.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Lisa Marie Segarra","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/lisa-marie-segarra/"}],"articleSection":"U.S.","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltcb4ef2233e0fc079/6988cf33bc6cfced9c3e190a/gettyimages-657311250.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"texas-governor-jokes-shooting-reporters","caption":"US-POLITICS-TELECOM-TRUMP","creditText":"Mandel Ngan—Getty/AFP","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/us/","name":"U.S."}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/4796353/texas-governor-greg-abbott-shoot-reporters-gun-joke/","name":"Texas Governor Greg Abbott Jokes About Shooting Reporters While at Gun Range"}}]}] ```