Texas takes step toward more gun control as US mass shootings on record pace – as it happened

In the aftermath of two Texas tragedies, more details and more actions are expected. As always, you can follow the latest from reporters and analysts covering US gun control here. For now, here’s what’s happened so far today:

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• In the aftermath of a mass shooting where 8 people were killed at a shopping mall in Allen, Texas, on Saturday, authorities have not yet confirmed a motive. Mauricio Garcia, the 33 year-old suspected gunman who was killed on the scene by police, reportedly espoused right-wing extremism and white supremacy online and in a patch displayed on his chest.

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• The shooting was the second deadliest of 2023 during a time when the US is on pace to set a new record in mass shootings.

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• Texas lawmakers in the Republican-controlled state legislature voted to advance a bill to raise the minimum age for buying a semi-automatic weapon to 21.

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• Police in Brownsville identified the suspect in a separate incident where a car plowed into a group of people waiting at a bus stop outside a migrant shelter on Sunday morning.

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• During a Monday morning news conference, authorities named George Alvarez and accused him of killing eight people and injuring 10 others with his car. Alvarez, who attempted to flee but was held down at the scene, was booked on reckless driving. With bail set at $3.6m, he now faces additional charges.

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The United States is suffering mass shootings this year at a pace that means 2023 is already on track to become a record year for such killings – even as the Republican-controlled legislature of Texas took a small step towards greater gun safety laws.

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The mass shooting in Allen, Texas, on Saturday was the second deadliest gun massacre of the year and just the latest in a string of such killings that are blighting 2023 and leaving many Americans in despair that action will be taken to stem the bloodshed.

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The shootings are just becoming more and more frequent.

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My colleague Andrew Witherspoon just made that graphic of the alarming data around mass shootings in the US.

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Meanwhile, although a committee in the Texas House just voted to advance a bill to raise the minimum age from 18 to 21 for the general public being able to buy an assault rifle, it has little chance of being passed by the full legislature, let alone being signed into law by right-wing governor Greg Abbott.

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The Texas Tribune reports:

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In a surprise move days after the Allen mall shooting and hours before a key legislative deadline, a Texas House committee advanced a bill Monday that would raise the minimum age to purchase certain semi-automatic rifles.

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The bill faces an uphill climb to becoming state law, but the vote marked a milestone for the proposal that relatives of Uvalde shooting victims have been pushing for months.

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Several relatives of children who were killed in the Robb Elementary School shooting last year sobbed when the committee voted 8-5 to send the bill to the House floor.

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