GUNS

So far this year alone, about 1,500 guns have been stolen from cars in San Antonio, according to SAPD.

San Antonio police officers took more than 15,700 guns off the streets the past four years, an analysis of data by the KSAT 12 Defenders shows.

Carrying a handgun in public in Texas will no longer require a license, starting Sep. 1.

From constitutional carry and critical race theory to alchol purchases on Sunday morning, here are 9 new laws that will go into effect Sept. 1 in Texas.

Gov. Greg Abbott appeared at Alamo Plaza Thursday to sign seven pieces of legislation related to firearms, including so-called constitutional carry.

Here are the bills that made it through the Legislature, and some that died before making it to the finish line.

Known by supporters as “constitutional carry,” the new law allows Texans to carry handguns — openly or concealed — without obtaining a state-issued license, so long they are not excluded from possessing a firearm by another federal or state law.

Tyler Representative Matt Schaefer says law-abiding citizens are at a disadvantage to criminals on the street and his bill, House Bill 1927, is a way to restore a right for 21-year-old Texans and older to be able to carry a handgun without the need for a license.

<figcaption> A Texas Senate committee on Thursday advanced a bill that would Texans to carry handguns in public without a permit. <cite>Credit: Evan L'Roy/The Texas Tribune</cite> </figcaption>

An executive order signed by President Joe Biden Thursday would create a model that states could use to enact red flag laws.

President Joe Biden is ordering a half-dozen executive actions aimed at addressing what he calls an “epidemic and an international embarrassment” of gun violence in America.

With the proper license, visitors to the Texas Capitol are allowed to carry open or concealed guns. There won't be fewer guns in the Texas Capitol this legislative session. Texans with handgun licenses can carry firearms into the Capitol openly or concealed and bypass the building’s metal detectors for entry within seconds. The Texas Capitol “is probably one of the most well-armed buildings in the state,” one then-state lawmaker told The New York Times in 2013. That year, dozens of Texas lawmakers routinely carried guns inside the Capitol, current and former lawmakers told The Times.

Greg Abbott speaks during a news conference where he provided an update to Texas' response to COVID-19, Thursday, Sept. 17, 2020, in Austin, Texas. (AP Photo/Eric Gay)AUSTIN – Texas Governor Greg Abbott said he aims to make Texas a “Second Amendment Sanctuary State,” to ensure that no government officials can take guns away from owners in the Lone Star State. Abbott discussed his reasoning during a keynote presentation hosted by the Texas Public Policy Foundation on Jan. 17. Abbott said that he believed it was essential to secure the core liberties for state residents expressed in The U.S. Constitution. Greg Abbott pledges to make it ‘fiscally impossible’ to defund police

Residents point to the 281 Country Club next door as the source of those bullets. The 20-acre property is advertised online as an outdoor recreational area for ATVs and bicycles, and it has a shooting range. Jorge Trevino is one of about 20 people who own 281 Country Club. In November 2020, deputies noted a complaint of automatic weapon gunshots to a man named Jorge, who said he owned the 281 Country Club. Trevino says the country club has been operating for about a year, and there’s a five-year plan to expand the business.

Three guns were recovered from the car, police said, adding that two of the suspects were taken to West Suburban Hospital in Oak Park “for what appeared to be shortness of breath.”

That’s what gun owners nationwide and in San Antonio are asking as the demand for ammunition is far outweighing the supply these days. Gun sellers say there is a list of factors contributing to the shortage in what’s being called a “snowball effect.”Wolf Laughlin, the manager of the Gun Shack in Helotes, said the ammo shortage first started at the beginning of the pandemic this year when mines and factories were forced to close or reduce operations. The bills include House Bill 52 and House Bill 245, which involve banning private firearms sales at gun shows. Whether those bills will become laws remains to be seen, but in the meantime, gun owners are feeling the frustrations of not being able to find ammo. At the Gun Shack, staff members say they have tens of thousands of dollars' worth of ammo on backorder, but like other gun stores in our area, when they’ll be able to stock up on their supply is unclear.

In the wide-open spaces of the American West, guns are woven into the tapestry of life in ways city-dwellers may not understand. Ted Koppel visits the town of Cody, Wyoming, to find out how, for the majority of families, guns are inseparable from a way of life.

No other developed country has embraced guns more than the United States. Just how did firearms become such a big part of American culture? Lee Cowan reports.