Poll: Majority of Texans — including Republicans — support raising age to buy gun to 21
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A majority of Texans support raising the minimum age to buy a gun from 18 to 21, according to a new poll released Wednesday by the University of Texas and the Texas Politics Project.
The poll found that 76% of Texans supported “raising the legal age to purchase any firearm from 18 years of age to 21 years of age,” with 20% opposing the idea. Most people polled from both parties backed raising the purchasing age: 91% of Democrats and 64% of Republicans.
The findings come as the relatives of several Uvalde school shooting victims have urged the Texas House Select Committee on Community Safety to advance House Bill 2744, which would raise the minimum age from 18 to 21 to purchase certain military-style, semi-automatic rifles.
Last month, several Uvalde families waited more than 13 hours to testify at that committee's hearing on HB 2744, which was filed by Rep. Tracy King, D-Uvalde. The deadline is Monday for House committees, including the Select Committee on Community Safety, to advance House bills.
'Did you think we would go home?': Uvalde families wait 13 hours to give heartbreaking testimony
House Speaker Dade Phelan has previously said he is open to having a debate on a "raise the age" bill on the House floor, but he doesn’t believe the proposal has enough support to pass. Gov. Greg Abbott and Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick have said they oppose the measure and instead have put their focus to improving school security and access to mental health resources.
More than 10% of voters said gun control and gun safety should be the Legislature’s top priority during the legislative session, which ends May 29. Immigration and border security was the only issue that received more support, with 22% of voters identifying that as the top priority.
The poll surveyed 1,200 registered Texas voters April 14-23, with a margin of error of plus or minus 2.83 percentage points. According to the survey, 43% of respondents identified as Democrats, 48% as Republicans and 9% as independents.
The poll also found that 72% of Texans support allowing courts to require a person to temporarily surrender guns in their possession if they are found to be a risk to themselves or others. Nearly 90% of Democrats and 64% of Republicans support such a measure, according to the poll results.
Texas Legislature: Senator, Uvalde families slam Republicans, demand action on gun safety legislation
In response to the poll, Sen. Roland Gutierrez, D-San Antonio, criticized the state’s Republican political leaders for refusing to enact “commonsense gun safety laws.” Gutierrez, who represents Uvalde, has advocated for the Uvalde families' legislative requests and filed more than 20 bills on their behalf, including increased gun control measures.
“This isn’t some sort of Democrats versus Republicans thing. People from all over Texas and all across America just want to be safe from gun violence,” Gutierrez said in a statement. “Time and time again, Republicans double down and loosen gun laws, selling the fantasy that more guns equals less crime. The reality is, the wrong hands having such easy access to guns has Texans worried about their safety and demanding change.”
Other findings from the poll include:
Both former President Donald Trump and Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis are popular among Texas Republicans, with 78% viewing Trump favorably and 73% viewing DeSantis favorably.
A plurality of Republicans and Democrats support passing several policies during the session, including improving the reliability of the state’s energy grid and water supply, reducing property taxes and increasing funding for school safety.
Just under half of registered voters said they believe "creating a voucher, educational savings account (ESA), or other 'school choice' program" will improve public education, with 26% saying it would hurt the public education system.
After a near-total ban on abortion in Texas, 49% of voters support expanding legal access to abortion services in the state, and 33% disapprove of an expansion.
Forty percent of Texans believe that "removing books from public school libraries determined to be 'harmful material' or inconsistent with local community values" would hurt the public education system, with 36% saying it would improve public education.
The poll found that 45% of surveyed voters support "phasing out tenure at Texas’s public universities," with 27% against it.
Voters are divided on their views on diversity, equity and inclusion policies at businesses and state institutions, with 35% having a positive view of them and 32% with a negative view.
American-Statesman reporter Niki Griswold contributed to this story.
This article originally appeared on Austin American-Statesman: UT poll: Majority of Texans support raising age to purchase gun to 21
