Texas Lawmakers Unexpectedly Advance Bill To Raise Age For Some Gun Purchases

A Texas House committee advanced a bill Monday that would raise the minimum age to buy some semi-automatic rifles, a surprising moment for the Republican-led chamber.

Two Republicans, state Reps. Sam Harless and Justin Holland, joined six Democrats to advance the bill, HB 2744, in an 8-5 vote. The legislation would raise the minimum age required to buy many semi-automatic firearms from 18 to 21. Police officers, military members and veterans would be exempt for the law, as would those who use the firearms for hunting or competition.

But despite Monday’s victory, the bill faces a difficult battle to become law in Texas’ Republican-controlled legislature, which has moved to ease gun restrictions in recent years despite a spate of mass shootings. Texas House Speaker Dade Phelan (R) said he didn’t believe the bill had the votes to pass, but told the Texas Tribune he would not move to block it from being debated.

The bill was championed by relatives of the victims of the Uvalde, Texas, school shooting last year that left 21 people dead, including 19 kids. Supporters rallied in the Texas Capitol building Monday chanting “raise the age!” and became emotional as it advanced through the panel. The shooter in the Uvalde attack used an AR-15-style rifle that was legally purchased just days after he turned 18, and critics of the legislature argue the massacre may have been prevented with stricter gun control laws.

“Tess didn’t have a choice in life or death. But you as leaders have a choice of what my daughter’s life will be remembered for,” Veronica Mata, whose daughter was killed in the Uvalde shooting, told lawmakers last month during a hearing on the bill. “Will she die in vain or will her life have saved another child?”

Monday’s development came just days after a gunman opened fire at a mall in Allen, Texas, killing eight people and hospitalizing seven others before he was killed by police. The gunman in that attack was 33, meaning any changes in the law would not have impacted his ability to acquire a semi-automatic weapon.

Another gunman shot and killed five neighbors in Cleveland, Texas, last month after they asked him to stop firing a gun in his yard.

Gov. Greg Abbott (R) said Sunday the state would focus its efforts on addressing “mental health problems” behind gun violence, but did not mention gun control.

President Joe Biden has urged Congress to ban assault weapons and high-capacity magazines, saying he would sign such legislation “immediately” if possible. But such efforts are also unlikely to make headway in the GOP-controlled house.