Rare GOP votes in Texas for gun bill after mass shootings

As a Republican in the Texas Capitol, Sam Harless turned heads: He voted in favor of a stricter gun law.

In doing so, the Houston state representative helped advance a bill in the Texas House that would raise the purchase age for AR-style rifles like the kind used by an 18-year-old gunman in Uvalde last year. The vote came just days after eight people at an outdoor mall in Dallas were killed by a 33-year-old gunman, who President Biden said used an AR-15-style weapon.

The bill has little chance of becoming law, but that...