Rare GOP votes in Texas for gun bill after mass shootings

By ACACIA CORONADO and PAUL J. WEBER
Associated Press

AUSTIN, Texas (AP) — Republican state representatives’ head-turning votes are helping advance a bill in the Texas House that proposes raising the purchase age for AR-style rifles. Reps. Sam Harless and Justin Holland on the House Select Committee on Community Safety voted in favor of the bill. The bill has little chance of becoming law in Texas, but the vote still prompted pushback from powerful gun rights groups Tuesday. Mass killings continue to spread anguish in Texas. That includes a gunman killing eight people at a mall near Dallas. Harless says “every kid has a right to go to school and feel safe.”