On the last day of the 88th Legislative Session, new gun legislation finally passes the Texas House. House Bill 2744, which raises the legal age to buy a gun from 18 to 21, passed after much support from Texas lawmakers and citizens.
Over the course of several hours, many Texas representatives took to the podium to speak against the increasing gun violence in the nation. The representatives were joined by multiple family members of those who were tragically slain in mass shootings such as the Uvalde Massacre.
The bill has to pass through other measures before it can officially become a law, but it is still a major victory for its supporters.
Furthermore, the bill comes after the recent deadly mass shooting that took place in San Jacinto County.
On April 28, 2023, a gunman opened fire and killed five people after his neighbor asked him to turn his music down so their baby could sleep.
A little over a week later, 8 people were gunned down in a mass shooting in Allen, TX. The state has faced multiple mass shootings this year, leaving many citizens frustrated at the lack of gun legislation.
The suspect was found dead, wearing tactical vests with alt-Right insignia, after a shootout with the local police. Furthermore, the shooter’s online presence has revealed ties to Nazism, sexism, and anti-Semitism.
2 of the 8 lives lost were children. One of the survivors of the senseless shooting was a 6 year old boy who lost his mother, father and younger brother.
Many Democratic lawmakers have been working tirelessly to amend the existing gun laws. Furthermore, Texas representatives received good news after successfully passing a new bill looking to further restrict gun laws.
In a recent CDC report, new data showed an all-time high of gun-related deaths totaling 45,222 lives lost. The new data revealed “a sharp 13.5% increase in the crude rate of firearm-related death from 2019 to 2020.”
