Texas gun massacres timeline and data reports= x eight

Texas has had eight mass shootings in the past 13 years, while lawmakers have steadily loosened restrictions on carrying firearms.

President Joe Biden and first lady Jill Biden visit Robb Elementary School to pay their respects to the victims of the mass shooting, Sunday, May 29, 2022, in Ulvade, Texas.

Updated echo report published May 24, 2022, in The Texas Tribune, written by Mandi Cai: (Excellent data report.)

Texas has seen eight mass shootings over the last 13 years, and many of them sparked public debate about what legislation should be passed to prevent another one.

While University of Texas polls consistently show that Texans are divided about gun control — with 40% to 50% saying they want stricter gun laws — the vast majority of the laws passed over the past 13 years by the state’s Republican-controlled Legislature have expanded where guns are allowed, who can have a firearm in schools and the right to openly carry guns.

A timeline details how state lawmakers and the public have responded to mass shootings — through legislation and University of Texas polls — since the 2009 Fort Hood shooting.

We used Mother Jones’ mass shootings data and definition of a mass shooting, which relies on the FBI’s definition of a mass murderer, to determine which shootings to include in the timeline. Among the criteria:

• The shooter killed at least four people. (The U.S. government revised this in 2013, to three people, which is why the second Fort Hood shooting is included.)
• The killings were carried out by a lone shooter.
• The shooting occurred in a public space.
• Victim counts don’t include shooters who died or were wounded during an attack.
  
  Credits: Stacy Fernández and Chris Essig contributed to this report
  
  Disclosure: The University of Texas at Austin and Walmart have been financial supporters of The Texas Tribune, a nonprofit, nonpartisan news organization that is funded in part by donations from members, foundations and corporate sponsors. Financial supporters play no role in the Tribune's journalism. Find a complete list of them here.