Guns in Texas

Featured coverage

“It’s hell”: Surge of Texas kids dying from gun violence carves canyons of grief through families

By Alejandro Serrano and Susie Webb Oct. 30, 2023

In 2012, around 100 Texans under 18 died of gunshot wounds. Last year, that number reached nearly 300. Full Story 

Deaths from firearms keep climbing in Texas, decades after lawmakers began weakening gun regulations

By Erin Douglas and Alex Ford May 10, 2023

The rate of firearm-related deaths in Texas has reached a level not seen since the 1990s. Texas lawmakers have approved more than 100 bills that loosened gun restrictions since 2000. Full Story 

Mass shooting timeline: 14 years of violence in Texas

By Mandi Cai and Chris Essig Updated: May 8, 2023

Texas has seen nine mass shootings over the last 14 years while lawmakers have steadily loosened restrictions on carrying firearms. Full Story 

Texas’ complex relationship with firearms: Leading America in gun sales, but with a declining gun ownership rate

By Caroline Covington July 28, 2022

We examine decades of data on gun ownership and gun violence to show trends across the state. Some of them might surprise you. Full Story 

A gun and a prayer: How the far right took control of Texas’ response to mass shootings

By Eleanor Klibanoff May 29, 2022

The “God-given right” to self-defense has become a rallying cry in Texas politics, further cementing gun ownership as a holy cause and political identity. The state’s Republican leadership has spent decades carrying the banner. Full Story 

Latest coverage

• A public health response helped reduce fatal car wrecks in Texas. Can it do the same for gun deaths?

  By Alejandro Serrano and Susie Webb Oct. 31, 2023

  For the first time in a generation, Texans were more likely to die of gunshot wounds than car crashes in 2021. Experts worry a lack of research on the issue has hampered the search for solutions. Full Story 

• Texans do not need a license to carry, but some gun owners still want one

  By Rebecca Schneid Aug. 10, 2023

  Since the permitless carry law passed in 2021, Texans have not needed a license to carry a gun. But gun instructors and some gun owners still see the benefits in taking the classes necessary to obtain a license. Full Story 

• New school safety laws seek to add armed guards, chaplains and mental health training. Here’s what you need to know.

  By María Méndez July 14, 2023

  Experts say many of the changes will bolster school safety but some requirements may be challenging for public schools to implement by the upcoming school year with limited funding and staffing constraints. Full Story 

• “I want them to haunt you”: Man who killed 23 at El Paso Walmart hears from victims’ families

  By Uriel J. García Updated: July 6, 2023

  During the gunman’s sentencing, relatives of those killed nearly four years ago are telling him how he upended their lives. Full Story 

• Texas lawmakers closed a background check loophole, but many gun measures failed to pass

  By Alejandro Serrano June 6, 2023

  Legislators passed a bill that requires courts to report certain involuntary mental health hospitalizations to the federal gun background check system. Many other measures that could restrict firearm access got little traction. Full Story 

• Mandatory 10-year sentences for some crimes involving guns revived by Texas Senate

  By Jolie McCullough and Alejandro Serrano May 23, 2023

  The idea appeared to die in the Texas House over the weekend, but senators kept it alive by grafting the proposal on to another piece of legislation. Full Story 

• Gun safety advocates see signs of progress in first session after Uvalde shooting even though raise-the-age bill stalled

  By Alejandro Serrano May 23, 2023

  Emotions often ran high over a proposal to limit young adults’ access to some firearms. Lawmakers have largely prioritized school safety measures, but there was still progress for some gun-related legislation. Full Story 

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• Texas just closed a critical gun background check loophole

  By Jeremy Schwartz, The Texas Tribune and ProPublica May 17, 2023

  State lawmakers passed a bill requiring courts to report involuntary mental health hospitalizations of juveniles for inclusion in the federal gun background check system. The law closes a gap revealed by ProPublica and The Texas Tribune in 2022. Full Story 

• Greg Abbott says to stop mass shootings, Texas must improve mental health care. A $25 billion investment hasn’t been enough.

  By Stephen Simpson May 10, 2023

  Texas still lags nationally when it comes to mental health services and there have been seven mass shootings since Abbott took office in 2015. Full Story 

• Raise-the-age gun bill misses crucial deadline, as Uvalde parents protest outside the Texas House

  By Alejandro Serrano Updated: May 9, 2023

  Days after another mass shooting in Texas, the measure to raise the minimum age from 18 to 21 to purchase semi-automatic rifles appears to have failed. Full Story 

• Allen mall shooting victims include three kids and a couple who leave behind their 6-year-old son

  By Sneha Dey Updated: May 10, 2023

  A security guard, an engineer, and a child as young as three were among the eight victims of the shooting at the Allen outlet mall on Saturday. Full Story 

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• “This can’t be happening”: Allen becomes latest U.S. town to grapple with a mass shooting

  By Joshua Fechter and Sneha Dey May 7, 2023

  After mall shooting, residents of the Dallas suburb are experiencing familiar rituals: mourning, anger and despair. Full Story 

• Gunman kills 8 people at a North Texas outlet mall

  By Matthew Choi Updated: May 6, 2023

  The shooter was also killed by a police officer after he opened fire in Allen. Gov. Greg Abbott called the shooting “an unspeakable tragedy.” Full Story 

• Poll finds solid majority of Texans, even Republicans, favor raising age for gun purchases

  By Patrick Svitek May 3, 2023

  The University of Texas survey also found stronger support for Sen. Ted Cruz, while Donald Trump and Ron DeSantis remain popular among Republicans. Full Story 

• In overnight testimony, Uvalde victims’ family members call on Texas lawmakers to raise age to buy semi-automatic guns

  By Alejandro Serrano Updated: April 19, 2023

  The families of Uvalde shooting victims waited hours to testify at a House committee hearing in support of House Bill 2744, which would raise the minimum age to purchase semi-automatic guns from 18 to 21. Full Story 

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• After years of little progress, Texas gun control and safety advocates see some small openings for dialogue at the Capitol

  By Alejandro Serrano April 18, 2023

  Many bills that would limit access to firearms or ammunition likely won’t become law anytime soon. But people who advocate at the Texas Capitol see emerging signs that there’s appetite for finding some middle ground. Full Story 

• Texas House committee debates firearms bills filed in response to Uvalde shooting

  By Alejandro Serrano Updated: April 18, 2023

  The House Select Committee on Community Safety is scheduled to hear testimony on bills that would change how people buy firearms and how authorities report those purchases. One of these bills would raise the minimum age to 21 years old to purchase certain semi-automatic rifles. Full Story 

• Texas Senate approves bill that would create mandatory prison or probation terms for some gun crimes

  By Alejandro Serrano April 5, 2023

  Sen. Joan Huffman said the bill was in response to increased violent crime since 2019. Legislative researchers could not determine how the bill would affect the state’s prison population. Full Story 

• Sutherland Springs shooting victims reach tentative $144.5 million settlement with U.S. government

  By Holly Bailey, The Washington Post April 5, 2023

  The U.S. Department of Justice also agreed to drop its appeal of a lawsuit in which a judge found the military mostly at fault for the 2017 mass shooting at a church. Full Story 

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• Texas bill requiring 10-year prison sentences for gun felonies faces opposition from criminal justice and firearm advocates

  By William Melhado and Alejandro Serrano March 9, 2023

  Under Senate Bill 23, all felonies involving a gun would incur a mandatory 10-year prison sentence. It’s meant to curb crime, despite the lack of correlation between harsher sentences and crime rates. Full Story 

• Texas Senate passes first bill this session, a bipartisan effort to close teen gun loophole

  By Erin Douglas March 8, 2023

  In its first bill passed this session, the Texas Senate sought to ensure juvenile mental health hospitalizations are reported to the federal firearm background check system. Full Story 

• Texas superintendent resigns after student finds his gun in school bathroom

  By Brian Lopez Feb. 23, 2023

  The incident comes as lawmakers debate how to make schools safer after the Uvalde massacre and favor measures like arming more educators. Full Story 

• Gov. Greg Abbott says most gun crimes involve illegally owned weapons. That’s not true in mass shootings.

  By Jessica Priest and Perla Trevizo, The Texas Tribune and ProPublica Feb. 23, 2023

  Most of the state’s 19 mass shootings over the past six decades were carried out by men who legally possessed firearms, an investigation by ProPublica and The Texas Tribune found. Full Story 

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• Despite decades of mass shootings in Texas, legislators have failed to pass meaningful gun control laws

  By Jessica Priest and Perla Trevizo, The Texas Tribune and ProPublica Updated: May 8, 2023

  State lawmakers have rejected dozens of bills that would have prevented people from legally obtaining weapons used in many mass shootings. Instead, they’ve made it easier for residents to get guns and harder for local governments to regulate them. Full Story 

• Biden rule reclassifying some pistols as short-barreled rifles draws Texas lawsuit

  By William Melhado Feb. 9, 2023

  The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives amended a rule that classifies guns with “stabilized braces” as rifles, which are subject to different regulations, triggering the objection of Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton and Gun Owners of America. Full Story 

• Confronted with mass shootings, Texas Republicans have repeatedly loosened gun laws

  By Kate McGee and Jolie McCullough Updated: May 24, 2022

  Gov. Greg Abbott and other Republican leaders signaled an openness to some gun restrictions after recent mass shootings. But in the last several years, lawmakers have eased gun laws, most notably by passing a permitless carry bill last year. Full Story