Texas lawmakers continue to expand Second Amendment rights despite the escalating gun violence across the state. Firearms-related deaths in the state are the highest they’ve been since the 1990s. Texas is also tied with California for the most mass shootings in 2023.

Straight Arrow News contributor Ruben Navarrette says the lack of any effort to tackle gun reform proves Texas Republicans value guns more than its own citizens.

Lately, conservatives have been trying to shift the focus away from guns once again, and this time toward mental health. And they’re doing it now in the aftermath of yet another mass shooting in — wait for it — Texas. The tragedy occurred on Friday, May 6 at Allen Premium Outlets in Allen, Texas, about 45 minutes north of Dallas. Nine people were killed, including children, and seven others were injured. The deceased include the perpetrator who was shot and killed by a police officer who was already in the area on an unrelated call. We can now add Allen to the list of Texas mass murder scenes. In fewer than 15 years, there was Fort Hood in 2009, and Fort Hood again in 2014, Dallas in 2016, El Paso in 2019, Uvalde in 2022, and Cleveland, outside Houston, just last month in April. 

In most of these cases, high-powered rifles were used, and the most common rifle used was — wait for it — the AR-15. Incredibly, the Republican politicians who run Texas are so hopelessly addicted to the millions of dollars that they take in each year from the National Rifle Association and the rest of the gun lobby, that even with all the carnage in the state, they won’t go anywhere near the idea of banning the manufacturing of the AR-15 or restricting who would be able to buy it. Instead, these empty suits are more likely to be caught talking about, well, just about anything that doesn’t involve new gun laws that might antagonize their benefactors in the gun lobby.