On Saturday afternoon, two state troopers pulled over a man in Midland, Texas, for apparently failing to use his turn signal. The driver grabbed his rifle and began shooting at the patrolmen, officials said, wounding one of them. From there, the man went on what the New York Times described as a “drive-by mass shooting,” driving through Midland and neighboring Odessa, firing at people in their cars, on the streets, and outside stores.
By the end, the man had killed seven people and injured more than 20. The mass shooting happened exactly four weeks after the massacre in El Paso and one day before a series of new gun laws went into effect that relax restrictions on when and where gun owners can carry firearms. The state has been home to four of the 10 deadliest mass shootings in the country.
As the calls for gun control grew louder, just as they have after each high-profile mass shooting, Texas state Representative Matt Schaefer, a right-wing Tea Partier who hails from Louie Gohmert-land, took the opportunity to defiantly declare on social media that he would not be doing anything to change gun laws.
