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In a 2016 attack on police officers at a downtown Dallas demonstration, several marchers carried AR-15s and other military-style rifles, and local officials said their presence created confusion for police officers. A single gunman, Micah Johnson, a former Army reservist, killed five officers.

“There are multiple layers to this tragedy, but adding guns to any emotional and potentially volatile situation can, and too often does, lead to deadly violence,” Ed Scruggs, the board president of Texas Gun Sense, a gun legislation reform group, said in a statement about the Austin shooting.

C.J. Grisham, founder and president of the gun-rights organization Open Carry Texas, defended the practice of bringing rifles to rallies and marches, particularly after numerous attacks around the country in which motorists have driven their cars into demonstrations and injured or killed protesters.

“Protesters are under attack from a wide variety of people,” Mr. Grisham said. “It’s unfortunate these days that if you’re going to exercise your First Amendment rights, you probably need to be exercising your Second Amendment rights as well.”

The shooting occurred shortly before 10 p.m. James Sasinowski, 24, a witness, said it seemed the driver was trying to turn a corner and did not want to wait for marchers to pass.

“The driver intentionally and aggressively accelerated into a crowd of people,” Mr. Sasinowski said. “We were not aggravating him at all. He incited the violence.”

Michael Capochiano, another witness, had a slightly different account of what happened. He said he was marching with other demonstrators when he saw a motorist honk his horn and turn toward the crowd, forcing people to scatter.