Despite legislative inaction, nearly 75% of Texans want gun-buying age raised, poll shows

Nearly 3 in 4 Texans support raising the age to legally purchase a firearm in Texas from 18 to 21, and a clear majority of Republicans are in favor of making such a change, a poll released Monday shows.

The findings by the Texas Politics Project at the University of Texas run counter to the actions, or lack of same, last year by the Legislature, which would not budge on bills that would have raised the legal age for buying military-style rifles. Despite public pressure in the wake of the May 24, 2022, mass killing at a Uvalde school by a gunman who purchased two AR-15 rifles the day after turning 18, no legislation that would restrict gun sales or ownership received a vote in either chamber.

Nancy Thompson, who formed an advocacy group called Mothers Against Greg Abbott to highlight the gulf between public policymakers and public opinion, said it's only a matter of time before voters realize their interests on a range of key issues are being ignored at the Capitol.

"I think we are pretty close to a tipping point where there is a disconnect between elected (officials) and what people are really feeling on the ground," Thompson said in an interview. "And that just goes to the fact that (political leaders) are overplaying their cards on cultural issues and not really dealing with the fact that so many of us do not feel safe in Texas anymore."

More: Six mass shootings and 90 dead. What has Texas Gov. Greg Abbott done and has it been enough?

The poll of 1,200 self-declared registered voters was taken Feb. 2-12. Those surveyed were asked about a wide range of issues, from border security and immigration to 2024 election-year preferences to their feelings about state and national political figures. The poll's margin of error was plus or minus 2.83 percentage points.

Texans see Republican Gov. Greg Abbott's signature issue of border security as the most pressing challenge facing the state, and 54% in the poll agreed with his hardline policies at the border, compared with 33% who disapproved of them.

More: Gov. Abbott announces plan for permanent military 'base camp' at Texas-Mexico border

Democratic President Joe Biden remains unpopular in Texas, and the poll showed that he would lose the state in a rematch with former President Donald Trump in November.

And even though Abbott is campaigning for legislative candidates who favor some kind of voucher plan for public schools, only 2% of Texans see the so-called school choice debate as a compelling issue. Similarly, even though Republican Attorney General Ken Paxton is campaigning against GOP House members who voted for his impeachment, poll respondents showed nearly zero interest in the matter. Paxton was acquitted in the Senate.

On the issue of guns and firearms, 45% in the poll said more guns would mean a safer society while only 3 in 10 said it wouldn't.

Although gun issues typically showcase the partisan divide among officeholders and candidates, that divide is far less gaping among everyday Texans, the poll found. The raise-the-age question was a case in point.

Nine out of 10 respondents who said they were Democrats liked the idea of setting the minimum age to buy firearms at 21. But the issue was also popular among 63% of the Republican respondents and 56% of those calling themselves independents.

On the safety question, neither party could claim lockstep agreement among the ranks. Nearly three-quarters of the Democrats said more guns would result in less safety, which leaves more than 25% unconvinced. On the Republican side, 51% bought into the more guns, more safety argument, meaning nearly the same percentage either disagreed or offered no opinion.

This article originally appeared on Austin American-Statesman: Poll shows most Texans in both parties favor setting gun-buying age at 21