Members of the House minority say they want to consider legislation “closing the background check loopholes” and “banning the sale of high-capacity magazines.”

The governor tweeted Monday night that Texas is “working on a legislative package” and that “expedited executions for mass murderers would be a nice addition.”

Officials say the shooting began with a traffic stop in which the gunman shot a state trooper. Police say the gunman acted alone and was shot to death outside a crowded movie theater

The governor’s comments come after reports emerged of a two-page fundraising mailer that warned of a liberal plan to "to transform Texas — and our entire country — through illegal immigration."

www.texastribune.org

So far, federal agencies have managed to erect about 60 miles of replacement barriers along the U.S.-Mexico border.

Trump’s determination to build the barriers as quickly as possible has not diminished his interest in the aesthetic aspects of the project, particularly the requirement that the looming steel barriers be painted black and topped with sharpened tips.

Plus, local, state and federal officials convene in El Paso for the second and final meeting of the Texas Safety Commission – the panel Gov. Greg Abbott created to devise policy solutions in the wake of the deadly mass shooting in the border town earlier this month.

www.texastribune.org

The white suspect in the racist massacre told El Paso police he picked up the legally purchased gun from a Dallas-area store. Experts say guns imported from overseas are often cheaper than ones originating in the U.S.

www.texastribune.org

Hoping to avoid an undercount of thousands Hispanic and black Texans, Dallas, Harris and Hidalgo counties believe getting children engaged can bring families to participate in the 2020 census.

www.texastribune.org

The pastor, Frank Pomeroy, said Sunday he will run as a Republican for District 21, currently held by Sen. Judith Zaffirini, D-Laredo.

www.texastribune.org

A federal court ruled last week that the U.S. government could reject asylum seekers who failed to seek protection in other countries first — but only applied the ruling to Texas and New Mexico. Will that push migrants to try their luck in Arizona and California?

Plus, the Trump administration moves to terminate court agreement, hold migrant children and parents longer. The Department of Homeland Security and the Department of Health and Human Services will issue a new rule Friday to withdraw from the Flores Settlement Agreement, the federal consent decree that has set basic standards for the detention of migrant children and teens since 1997.

www.texastribune.org

Acknowledging that lawmakers can do little to legislate the hate away, some Latinos say they are looking for a new type of understanding among the state’s mostly white leaders of the way in which the pain of a racist past in Texas is now intersected with its present. For them, that starts with a change in the words state leaders use.

www.texastribune.org