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The truck and weapons of Salvador Rolando Ramos remains crashed in a ditch near Robb Elementary School in Uvalde, where he entered and killed 19 students and two teachers on May 24, 2022.

Uvalde’s state lawmakers face an uphill battle raising the age limit for semi-automatic guns. They’re trying anyway.

Many relatives of Uvalde victims back bills that state Rep. Tracy King and Sen. Roland Gutierrez are pushing in the Legislature. But limits on gun access don’t fare well at the Capitol.


State Rep. Tracy King, R-Batesville, on the House floor on April 23, 2019.

A broader push

State Sen. Roland Gutierrez, D-San Antonio, and other senators listen to families of the victims of the Robb Elementary school shooting speak at a press conference at the state Capitol in Austin on Jan. 24, 2023.
Mayor Don McLaughlin at the City Hall building in Uvalde on Jan. 23, 2023.

“A great milestone”

Families of the victims of the Uvalde and Santa Fe school shootings gathered with state Sen. Roland Gutierrez, D-San Antonio, to show their support for legislation on gun safety laws at the state Capitol in Austin on Feb. 14, 2023.
Randall Methvin, a long-time resident of Uvalde, rancher, and gun owner, at the Starbucks in Uvalde on Jan. 23, 2023. Methvin supports raising the age limit to purchase AR-style weapons but doesn't believe it will be as effective at stopping similar mass shootings.
County Commissioner Ronald Garza sits in his "office" at the Stripes gas station on Jan. 23, 2022. Garza supports the goal of state Rep. Tracy King, D-Batesville, to introduce legislation to increase the age requirement for purchasing AR-style weapons.

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Criminal justice Politics State government Roland Gutierrez Tracy King