Why 18-Year-Olds in Texas Can Buy AR-15s but Not Handguns

The massacre at an elementary school in Uvalde, Texas, highlights disparities in how federal laws regulate rifles and handguns. The shooter bought two rifles days after his 18th birthday.

About the Partnership

In this first-of-its-kind collaboration, ProPublica and the Texas Tribune work together to publish investigative reporting for and about Texas.

They Built the Wall. Problems Remain After Founder’s Guilty Plea.

Brian Kolfage, a 40-year-old Air Force veteran, faces more than five years in prison after pleading guilty to defrauding donors of hundreds of thousands of dollars in donations to the wall effort.

Seven Times Texas Leaders Misled the Public About Operation Lone Star

As they investigated Texas Gov. Greg Abbott’s border initiative, reporters repeatedly found situations where Abbott and DPS officials cited accomplishments that lacked crucial context or did not match reality.

Examining Nearly Two Decades of Taxpayer-Funded Border Operations

Since 2005, Texas Govs. Rick Perry and Greg Abbott have launched a multitude of widely publicized and costly border initiatives, which usually kicked off during their reelection campaigns or while they were considering bids for higher office.

Texas’ Border Operation Is Meant to Deter Cartels and Smugglers. More Often, It Imprisons Lone Men for Trespassing.

The largest share of Operation Lone Star arrests were of people accused only of trespassing on private property.

Official Orders Books Removed From Schools, Targeting Titles About Transgender People.

The North Texas superintendent’s comments, made on a leaked recording, raise constitutional concerns, legal experts said.

Help Us Investigate Texas Border Security Initiatives

We’re looking into Texas’ border security initiatives, including what has worked, what hasn’t and how they affect residents. If you have experience on the border, we’d like to hear from you.

Texas’ Governor Brags About His Border Initiative. The Data Doesn’t Back Him Up.

Arrests of U.S. citizens hundreds of miles from the border. Claiming drug busts from across the state. Changing statistics. We dug into the data Texas leaders use to boast about Operation Lone Star, and it raises more questions than answers.