In August 2019, Texas was devastated by the back-to-back mass shootings in El Paso and Midland-Odessa that left 30 people dead and dozens more injured. The massacres were so shocking and gruesome that it moved the state’s two top Republicans to do what was previously unthinkable — talk about gun control. Gov. Greg Abbott and Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick met with lawmakers over the course of several weeks and publicly expressed an openness to at least one gun control proposal that could for the first time in more than decade make it harder for someone in Texas to buy a firearm, instead of easier.