GUNS IN TEXAS

Speaking out for the first time, an El Paso mom recounts the moments from a bank inside the Walmart where 23 people were fatally shot and dozens more were injured in 2019.

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

Residents and victims’ families say the way local and state leaders are handling details about the state’s deadliest shooting is compounding their trauma and grief.

Almost half the money is going toward bullet-resistant shields for school police officers, a move that Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick called on fellow state leaders to support.

Four senators, including Cornyn, used a distinctive combination of policy expertise, legislative experience and political courage to push past obstacles that had repeatedly stymied previous attempts at compromise.

The new law contains modest provisions but is the most significant gun measure passed by Congress in nearly three decades.

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.

The legislation still needs to clear the House, where it is expected to pass. President Joe Biden has signaled he will sign the bill into law.

The high court found that states can’t require people to show “proper cause” for a gun permit. Texas allows people to carry handguns without a permit.

New information released by law enforcement sources and the director of the Department of Public Safety tells a different story about police response to the shooting than Uvalde CISD Police Chief Pete Arredondo.

The senators said they would support proposals like raising the age to legally own an assault weapon from 18 to 21, creating red flag laws and regulating private gun sales.

The bipartisan gun legislation could end up being a career definer for John Cornyn, Texas’ senior senator. He’s shown a past willingness to compromise but faces critics farther to his right, including his fellow senator Ted Cruz.

Red flag laws are designed to keep guns out of the hands of individuals who pose a threat to themselves or others. U.S. Sen. John Cornyn has championed the bipartisan agreement.

The Department of Justice says the weapons illegally sold by Demontre Antwon Hackworth, 31, were later used in over a dozen crimes, including the killing of a 21-year-old Black transgender woman.

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 “red flag” laws. President Joe Biden and House Democrats had wanted to go further.

Outside the Capitol in Austin, relatives of Jackie Cazares, 9, and Annabell Guadalupe Rodriguez, 10, two of the 19 students killed at Robb Elementary School in Uvalde, tearfully addressed a crowd.

Criticized by law enforcement experts for slowness in taking out the shooter, Pete Arredondo described an agonizing wait for a key that would work. In an interview with The Texas Tribune, he said he hadn’t spoken out sooner because he didn’t want to compound his hometown’s grief or point blame.

Cornyn on Monday made clear in a Senate floor speech that there are limits to what he and the Senate GOP conference are willing to support in their efforts to pass bipartisan gun legislation.

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 nation’s persistent gun violence.

More than 250 self-declared gun enthusiasts, including donors who have contributed to Gov. Greg Abbott’s campaigns, have signed on to an open letter supporting Sen. John Cornyn’s efforts at bipartisan gun reform legislation.

He offered other measures more likely to pass in Congress, like raising the age to 21 to purchase such weapons.

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.

Gutierrez, a Democrat who has been critical of the state’s 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.

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.

O’Rourke became known on the presidential campaign trail for his “Hell yes” promise to ban assault weapons. He’s been less vocal about the policy in his run for governor but this week, after the school shooting in Uvalde, he’s been newly assertive about the issue.

She wanted to be an art teacher. Her favorite color was purple. She was laid to rest three weeks after her birthday.

In addressing mass shootings, Texas’ top officials have tailored their responses to the wishes of some of their most outspoken voters. The results haven’t changed because we haven’t changed.

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.

Trump spoke at the Houston event three days after the Uvalde school shooting.

Deflecting blame from guns, attendees said a breakdown in society — including removing God from schools and a rise in mental illness — causes mass shootings, echoing the rhetoric of Gov. Greg Abbott and U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz.

Uvalde is grieving the loss of 19 students and two teachers after Tuesday’s devastating shooting at a local elementary school. In this video, residents say their town will never be the same, but they will help each other through the healing process.

The Republican governor will still be seen in prerecorded remarks at the organization’s annual meeting, which begins Friday in Houston.

U.S. Sen. John Cornyn has a history of working across the aisle to advance small gun policy bills after mass shootings.

The press conference is slated to begin at 1 p.m. Central time and comes after news reports quoting local residents saying that law enforcement did not enter the school fast enough.

He brought only one of the rifles with him into the elementary school, according to the briefing. The other was left in a truck he crashed nearby.

Families gathered at the city’s civic center to await news about their children following the elementary school shooting. Other residents processed their shock and grief in places of worship.

As President Joe Biden vowed to enact stricter gun laws following the Uvalde shooting, top Texas Republicans worked to create distance between the shooting and potential gun restrictions.

We know what comes next. Another scar hardens on the state’s collective psyche, but little is done to prevent the next one.

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.

Texas’ recent string of deadly mass shootings has sparked public debate about gun rights — and a host of laws aimed at preventing the next one.

The law that went into effect Sept. 1 allows anyone 21 years or older to carry a handgun in public without need for a permit or training.

Texas’ 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 state’s political pendulum has swung to the right since the 2020 election.

From abortion restrictions to guns, the Texas Legislature's regular session Republican victories were just the beginning.

The new laws will affect abortion access, social studies curriculum and cities that trim the budgets of law enforcement.

The issues getting attention from Gov. Greg Abbott are doing double-duty: They're attractive to Republican voters in Texas — and beyond.

In September 2019, he said he was "willing to take an arrow" and go against the National Rifle Association by pushing for Texas to extend background checks to gun sales between strangers. On Thursday, he sat next to NRA leader Wayne LaPierre as an expansion of gun rights became law.

Abbott, Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick and other Republicans who were initially noncommittal about the bill were under immense political pressure this session from conservatives and gun rights advocates, who have long lobbied the Texas Legislature for permitless carry.

State Rep. Joe Moody, a Democrat from El Paso, said a special legislative session already planned for later this year should also address gun violence.

The Legislature passed a bill allowing Texans to carry handguns without a license or training — an expansion of gun rights so divisive Republican leaders in previous years refused to touch it.

Lawmakers consider some things so safe that regulations can be loosened, while other matters get a tighter regulatory scheme. Consider guns and voting.