Killeen was the site of one of the nation's most deadly mass shootings on Oct. 16, 1991. On that day, George Hennard, 35, slammed his truck through the front window of a Luby's Cafeteria in Killeen.

Yelling, "This is what Bell County did to me," he got out of his truck and began shooting diners. Within 10 minutes, he had killed 23 people and wounded more than 20 before committing suicide.

Witnesses said the killer strolled through the cafeteria, randomly selecting victims.

No motive was ever established. Acquaintances described Mr. Hennard, who was unemployed, as bitter, disgruntled and deranged in the preceding months.

Reportedly a racist and a misogynist, he wrote to a friend in early 1991: "Please give me the satisfaction of one day laughing in the face of all those mostly white treacherous female vipers." After graduating from high school, he joined the Navy, then later transferred to the Merchant Marine, from which he was discharged in 1989 for possessing marijuana.

Suzanna Gratia Hupp of Lampasas lost her parents in the Luby's shooting. She was there, too, but escaped unharmed.

Ms. Hupp believes that if she had carried her gun inside Luby's, instead of leaving it in her car, as was required by law then, she could have stopped Hennard.

"Dad and I were on the floor. We had the table turned up in front of us. This guy was maybe 15 feet in front of us," she said. "I can't tell you how frightening it is to just sit there and wait for it to be your turn."

She became an outspoken advocate for the right to carry concealed handguns. The law took effect in January 1996, months before she won election as a state representative to the Texas Legislature. She served several terms.