A bill that would raise the legal age to buy a semiautomatic rifle in Texas has moved forward following another deadly mass shooting in the state.

The bill, which would change the age requirement from 18 to 21, advanced Monday after an 8-5 vote by the House Select Committee on Community Safety, with two Republicans among those who voted in favor of it.

The development took place two days after eight people died in a shooting at the Dallas-area Allen Premium Outlets mall, and nearly a year after 21 people were killed at an elementary school in Uvalde, Texas.

Monday’s vote came as a surprise, considering the bill hadn’t made progress in weeks. Last year, Texas Gov. Greg Abbott described the bill as “unconstitutional.” It still faces an uphill climb to become a law due to approaching deadlines.

“It doesn’t have the support of the Legislature,” Republican state Rep. Ryan Guillen said after voting against the bill.

Investigators identified the suspect in Saturday’s shooting at the Allen, Texas, outlet mall as 33-year-old Mauricio Garcia. He was killed by a police officer who happened to be nearby.

That violence occurred a week after a suspect, identified as 38-year-old Francisco Oropeza, allegedly killed five neighbors with an AR-style rifle after being confronted about firing the weapon in his yard in Cleveland, Texas, near Houston.

The May 2022 shooting at Uvalde’s Robb Elementary School left 19 children and two adults dead. The gunman was identified as 18-year-old Salvador Ramos, who previously attended the school.

During an appearance Sunday on Fox News, Abbott said Texas is working on getting guns “out of the hands of dangerous criminals” before emphasizing his state’s push to address mental health.

“There has been a dramatic increase in the amount of anger and violence that’s taking place in America, and what Texas is doing, in a big-time way, we are working to address that anger and violence by going to its root cause, which is addressing the mental health crisis behind it,” Abbott said.