Texans Not Eager to Change Gun Laws, UT/Texas Tribune Poll Shows

AUSTIN, Texas — Although a large majority of Texans support background checks for all gun purchases, they are not eager to change existing gun laws in Texas, according to a University of Texas at Austin/Texas Tribune poll. Seventy-eight percent of Texans support requiring criminal and mental health background checks on all gun purchases in the United States, including at gun shows and for private sales. However, 52 percent think that gun control laws should either be left as they are now (36 percent) or made less strict (16 percent). Forty-four percent said gun control laws should be stricter. The statewide poll, conducted Feb. 15-24, surveyed 1,200 registered Texas voters and had a margin of error of 2.83 percentage points. When asked whether stricter gun laws would help prevent gun violence, 56 percent said "not much" or "not at all," while 44 percent said they would help "some" or "a lot." "The results illustrate how Texans are both ideologically and literally conservative when it comes to gun ownership and regulation," said James Henson, director of the Texas Politics Project at The University of Texas at Austin and a co-director of the poll. "They embrace gun ownership, and a majority seem comfortable with the status quo. The only major exception is that a large majority of Texans, like much of the rest of the country, support criminal and mental health background checks for gun purchases." Texans are closely divided on allowing guns on college campuses and allowing more K-12 teachers to carry guns, but they aren't eager to relax concealed handgun license requirements.