Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
Texas Advances Bill To Up Minimum Age To Buy Some Semi-Automatics
The Texas Tribune: Texas House Panel Advances “Raise The Age” Bill For Semi-Automatic Guns
The chants echoed off the rotunda walls at the Texas Capitol even before the House convened Monday morning. “Raise the age, raise the age,” dozens of people yelled at a rally urging lawmakers to advance a bill that would raise the minimum age to purchase certain semi-automatic rifles from 18 to 21. “Raise the age, raise the age.” For months, advocates for restricting some firearms access — many of them relatives of people killed by gunmen — have shown up during the first legislative session since Texas’ deadliest school shooting to push for tighter weapons laws. On Monday, which signaled a key deadline for many House bills to advance, they showed up again. (Serrano, Klibanoff and Dey, 5/8)
The Hill: Uvalde Families Cheer After Two Republicans Help Advance Texas ‘Raise The Age’ Bill
The families of the Uvalde school shooting victims erupted in cheers after two Republican state legislators voted to advance a bill that would raise the minimum age limit to buy semiautomatic rifles in Texas. Two Republicans joined Democrats in the Texas House Select Committee on Community Safety to approve the “raise the age” gun bill in an 8-5 vote and advance it to the House floor. After they voted, families of the victims of the 2022 Uvalde school shooting could be heard cheering and sobbing in videos reported by KXAN News. (Sforza, 5/8)
The New York Times: In Shift, Texas House Advances Bill To Raise Age To Buy Assault Weapons
The preliminary vote was remarkable in a State Capitol dominated by Republicans, all the more so because it had been entirely unexpected: When the day began, the 13-member committee had not been scheduled to meet at all. (Goodman, 5/8)
Gunman was 'terminated' by the Army for mental health reasons —
The Wall Street Journal: Mauricio Garcia, Gunman In Texas Mass Shooting, Was Terminated By Army For Mental-Health Issues
The gunman authorities said was responsible for the deaths of eight in Allen, Texas, was terminated by the Army for mental-health reasons three months after he enlisted in 2008, and recent social-media postings officials are examining show links to white-supremacist views. (Kesling, Gurman and Flores, 5/8)
In related news about legislative action on guns —
The Hill: Schumer To Convene Special Senate Democratic Caucus Meeting On Gun Violence
Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) has called for Senate Democrats to hold a special caucus meeting to discuss gun violence in the wake of multiple high-profile mass shootings over the past several weeks. Schumer’s call to action comes after a gunman with an AR-15-style rifle killed eight people and wounded seven at a mall Saturday in Allen, Texas, and five other people, including an 8-year-old boy, were killed by a suspect armed with an AR-15 in Cleveland, Texas, April 29. (Bolton, 5/8)
Atlanta Journal-Constitution: Political Divide Over Guns Holds In Georgia Following Mass Shootings
Georgia Democrats stepped up demands for new firearms restrictions Monday after deadly mass shootings at a medical office in Midtown Atlanta and a shopping mall in Texas, the latest in a wave of violence that turned seemingly safe places into scenes of carnage. But the shootings haven’t changed the political dynamic in Georgia, where Gov. Brian Kemp and other Republican leaders have shared condolences and praised law enforcement — but have consistently rejected calls for increased limits on who can purchase or carry deadly weapons. (Bluestein, 5/8)
