Shooting in West Texas Kills Seven, Injures 22

The Primary: A gunman shot at people with an assault rifle while driving down Interstate 20 and Highway 191 in West Texas, killing seven people and injuring 22 before being killed by police.

• Who? What? Why?: The victims of the shooting ranged in age from 17 months to 57 years. The shooting is the second in Texas this month, bringing the August’s mass shooting death toll to 53 people in the U.S.. Police say the gunman had been fired from his job just before going on the rampage.

• The Baseline: The White House, according to the NYT, has been quietly in discussion with bipartisan lawmakers to draft new gun laws since the shootings in El Paso and Dayton. But this shooting and the subsequent outrage has created new urgency for Congressional Republicans to adopt gun control legislation.

• From the Left: Richard Parker of the New York Times thinks Texas’ Republican Governor has been, to say the least, an embarrassment in the face of shooting after shooting. Parker implores the governor to take action but laments, “if Mr. Abbott excels at anything, actually, it’s disappearing.”