Kyle Rittenhouse launches nonprofit with far-right Texans as he ramps up political engagement in the state
The activist known for shooting Black Lives Matter protesters in 2020 has created the Rittenhouse Foundation, which promises to fight for gun rights and includes leaders who have close ties to ultraconservative megadonors from West Texas.
Texas House passes ban on devices that modify handguns, but averts vote on increasing age to buy semi-automatic rifles
A Texas lawmaker introduced an amendment that would have revived a proposal to raise the minimum age to buy certain semi-automatic rifles from 18 to 21 before it was ultimately withdrawn.
In overnight testimony, Uvalde victimsโ family members call on Texas lawmakers to raise age to buy semi-automatic guns
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.
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.
โHe has a battle rifleโ: Police feared Uvalde gunmanโs AR-15
In previously unreleased interviews, police who responded to the Robb Elementary shooting told investigators they were cowed by the shooterโs military-style rifle. This drove their decision to wait for a Border Patrol SWAT team to engage him, which took more than an hour.
Biden rule reclassifying some pistols as short-barreled rifles draws Texas lawsuit
The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives amended a rule that classifies guns with โstabilized bracesโ as rifles, which are subject to different regulations, triggering the objection of Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton and Gun Owners of America.
Federal judge in Texas rules that disarming those under protective orders violates their Second Amendment rights
U.S. District Judge David Counts signed another opinion Thursday that cited a lack of historical record on laws relating to domestic violence to justify disarming abusers. Advocates fear the ruling will put more victims in harmโs way.
John Cornynโs disapproval among Texas voters worsened dramatically as he negotiated a bipartisan gun bill, new poll shows
The Republican U.S. senator shepherded landmark gun legislation through the Senate last month. Between April and June, his disapproval rating went from 39% to 50%, according to a Texas Politics Project poll.
Texas congressman Tony Gonzales, who represents Uvalde, breaks with House Republicans to vote for gun bill
The U.S. House passed the legislation Friday afternoon. Nearly all Texas Republicans voted against it. The bill is widely viewed as a series of modest changes to current gun regulations, falling far short of proposals pushed by House Democrats and President Joe Biden.
U.S. senators reach deal on gun legislation in aftermath of Uvalde shooting
Sen. John Cornyn, R-Texas, was one of the lead negotiators for the proposal, which would expand background checks for people under 21 and encourage states to enact โred flagโ laws. President Joe Biden and House Democrats had wanted to go further.
Texas Republicans want to arm more school employees, but few districts are opting in
Since Texas launched the school marshal program in 2013, just 84 school districts out of more than 1,200 have armed school staff. Educators say the programโs lack of popularity shows that teachers donโt want to be the ones to defend schools from mass shootings.
Texas politicians search for solutions after another mass shooting. Experts say weโve already found them.
In arguing over causes of the latest mass shooting, political debate often overlooks the range of incremental steps that could lessen the chances of mass killing and help address the nationโs persistent gun violence.
Some Texas GOP donors urge Congress to act on gun control measures like โred flagโ laws, expanded background checks
More than 250 self-declared gun enthusiasts, including donors who have contributed to Gov. Greg Abbottโs campaigns, have signed on to an open letter supporting Sen. John Cornynโs efforts at bipartisan gun reform legislation.
Partisan tensions flare among Texans in congressional gun hearing
House Democrats are combining several gun policy bills into one large package known as the Protecting our Kids Act. Among the measures in the bill: raising the age to purchase semi-automatic weapons to 21; outlawing the sale, manufacture, transfer or possession of a large-capacity magazine; and creating tax breaks for purchasing proper gun storage equipment.
Sen. Roland Gutierrez, who represents Uvalde, says itโs a โslap in the faceโ to be left off committee responding to shooting
Gutierrez, a Democrat who has been critical of the stateโs response to past shootings, said Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick also snubbed state senators whose districts were affected by shootings in El Paso and Santa Fe.
Gun ownership is ingrained in Uvaldeโs culture. Some here are rethinking how it should be regulated.
Longtime Uvalde residents say the city is a hunting mecca and the love for guns goes right along with it. But some would now support measures like raising the age limit to buy AR-style weapons or monitoring high-volume ammunition purchases.
Beto OโRourke renews calls for tougher gun laws after Uvalde shooting, including on assault weapons
OโRourke became known on the presidential campaign trail for his โHell yesโ promise to ban assault weapons. Heโs been less vocal about the policy in his run for governor but this week, after the school shooting in Uvalde, heโs been newly assertive about the issue.
After another mass shooting, Texas Democrats again push for gun control measures
The question moving forward is whether Democrats, outnumbered in the Texas Legislature for two decades, will be able to put enough pressure on lawmakers to move on a previously intractable issue in gun-friendly Texas and that Republicans, who support looser gun laws, will fight tooth and nail.
A gun and a prayer: How the far right took control of Texasโ response to mass shootings
The โGod-given rightโ to self-defense has become a rallying cry in Texas politics, further cementing gun ownership as a holy cause and political identity. The stateโs Republican leadership has spent decades carrying the banner.
Confronted with mass shootings, Texas Republicans have repeatedly loosened gun laws
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.
More Texas voters unhappy than satisfied over power grid, abortion and property taxes, UT/TT Poll finds
Most voters approve of using state money to add border barriers between Texas and Mexico. But 57% disapprove of a new abortion lawโs provision allowing lawsuits against people who help someone get the procedure.
Abortion providers and gun rights advocates are โstrange bedfellowsโ in fight to strike down Texasโ new abortion law
A gun rights group filed a brief with the U.S. Supreme Court in opposition to Texasโ abortion law, fearful that similar statutes could be crafted in other states to target gun ownership.
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Abortion ban, permitless carry, elections bill: The week that solidified Texas' hard right turn after the 2020 election
Texasโ new near-total abortion ban, one of the most restrictive in the nation, punctuated a week that brought into stunning relief just how far the stateโs political pendulum has swung to the right since the 2020 election.