Eyes on Texas: Printing Guns and a Political Imposter

A roundup of news, columns and features about the state, from media around the world.

More than two dozen gun-toting men, women and children crashed a meeting at an Arlington restaurant Saturday of a group seeking stricter gun laws, according to The New York Times. Members of Open Carry Texas stopped by during their weekly walk after news that Moms Demand Action for Gun Sense in America would be there. The group stayed for about 15 minutes. Police came but made no arrests. Open Carry Texas told the Times the group wasn’t trying to intimidate the women and called the gathering peaceful and legal.

Republican Dave Wilson tried to create the impression that he was black to garner votes for a Houston Community College Board of Trustees seat in a predominantly black and Democratic district. The ruse, as the Sydney Morning Herald reported, involved a flier with photos of African-American faces that Wilson found on the Internet and the line, “Please vote for our friend and neighbor Dave Wilson.” He also sent a mailer advertising an endorsement from Ron Wilson, Wilson’s Iowa cousin who has the same name as an African-American former state representative. Wilson won the race by 26 votes.

Texas’ gun market is going high-tech. Fox News reported that Austin-based company Solid Concepts has made the world’s first 3D-printed metal gun. Solid Concepts used a laser process to create the gun. The same process is used in aerospace and medical industries to make metal equipment. So can anyone print a metal gun at home? Not likely, the company said, because the process is too expensive.

Scarborough High School in Houston is Texas football’s biggest loser. National Public Radio reported the school has broken a Texas high school football record for the most losses. The team hasn’t won a game since September 2009, meaning seniors would graduate without a win. National media picked up the story before last Saturday’s game and took the opportunity to cheer on the underdogs. The attention didn’t work. Scarborough lost 40-14.