Texas takes steps to restrict gun access to people under 21

Two Texas Republican lawmakers surprisingly voted on Monday to move forward with a bill from a state House committee that proposes raising the legal age to buy a semi-automatic gun from 18 to 21.

Republicans Sam Harless from Spring and Justin Holland from Rockwall joined Democrats on an 8-5 vote to move forward with HB 2744. The bill, pushed by the Democrats, would prohibit buying, renting, leasing or giving a semiautomatic rifle with a caliber greater than 22 to a person under the age of 21.

The two Republicans' support for the bill drew criticism within the GOP. The representatives, however, defend their vote and claim that it is not an attack on the Second Amendment. Representative Justin Holland equates this measure to trying to control the sale of tobacco or alcohol.

The vote came hours after the shooting at an outlet mall in Allen, Texas. The accused shooter, Mauricio Garcia, is a 33-year-old man, so age control for access to weapons would have been of no use in this case. Many are calling the measure opportunistic and an attack on the Second Amendment.

Others, however, defend gun control in a state that in recent years has experienced mass shootings such as the Uvalde school shooting, which was perpetrated by an 18-year-old with an AR-15 purchased shortly after his birthday, or more recently others such as the one in San Jacinto.

Texas Legislature opposes gun control

Despite this spin by the two Republican representatives, the bill has little chance of becoming law due to the Republican majority in the Texas House of Representatives. Governor Greg Abbott has spoken out on several occasions about his resistance to gun control measures.