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.
Uvalde school shooting
Nineteen children and two adults were killed in a shooting at Robb Elementary School in Uvalde on May 24, 2022. It is the deadliest shooting ever at a Texas public school. We’re covering the aftermath of the shooting and the policy discussions that have followed.
Posted in
Texas Legislature 2023
In surprise move days after Allen mall shooting, Texas House panel OKs bill raising age to buy semi-automatic rifles
The legislation would raise the minimum age for purchasing certain firearms but likely wouldn’t have been a hindrance to the Allen gunman obtaining a weapon. The bill still faces an uphill climb in the Legislature.
Posted in
Texas Legislature 2023
Despite decades of mass shootings in Texas, legislators have failed to pass meaningful gun control laws
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.
Posted in
Texas Legislature 2023
Texas House committee debates firearms bills filed in response to Uvalde shooting
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.
Posted in
Guns in Texas
After years of little progress, Texas gun control and safety advocates see some small openings for dialogue at the Capitol
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.
Posted in
Uvalde school shooting
“He has a battle rifle”: Police feared Uvalde gunman’s AR-15
In previously unreleased interviews, police who responded to the Robb Elementary shooting told investigators they were cowed by the shooter’s military-style rifle. This drove their decision to wait for a Border Patrol SWAT team to engage him, which took more than an hour.
Posted in
Uvalde school shooting
Uvalde families ask to join suit pushing for DPS to release public records
The lawyers for some of the Uvalde families say there is “a compelling need” for records into the May 24 shooting at Robb Elementary to be publicly released.
Posted in
Texas Legislature 2023
Texas House Speaker Dade Phelan’s new priority bills focus on school safety, requiring districts to adopt active-shooter plans
More than nine months after the Uvalde school shooting, top GOP lawmakers maintain focus on school safety reforms and investments in mental health resources in hopes it will prevent future tragedies.
Posted in
Uvalde school shooting
Texas DPS won’t discipline any more officers for Uvalde shooting response
The Department of Public Safety has finished its investigation into how officers responded to Texas’ deadliest school shooting. The agency has fired one officer and is in the process of firing another.
Posted in
Uvalde school shooting
After botched response to Uvalde massacre, Texas senator wants better mass shooting training for public safety entities
State Sen. Roland Gutierrez, D-San Antonio, wants to prevent communication breakdowns like the ones that occurred in the botched response to the Uvalde school shooting.