A study published by the University of Houston found that a majority of Texas surveyed supported stronger gun safety laws.
TEXAS, USA — When Gov. Greg Abbott unveiled his priorities for the 2025 legislative session, gun control was unsurprisingly not on the list.
However, a survey conducted by the University of Houston Hobby School of Public Affairs found that Texans overwhelmingly support stronger gun laws. The group surveyed was majority white, 45%, and majority Republican, 44%, according to the methodology cited in the report.
The survey included Texans 18 and older to assess their preferences and opinions about issues that will likely be considered by the legislature this year, the report states. The survey included 1,200 people and was conducted in Jan. 2025, the report states.
While the Texas Legislature is unlikely to pass any meaningful gun control legislation this session, a large majority of Texans would support the legislation if they did, the survey found.
For example, 91% of Texans support requiring criminal background checks on anyone who purchases a firearm at a gun show, according to the survey results. An attempt to require background checks at gun shows was halted in 2024. A federal judge sided with Ken Paxton and 25 other Republican Attorneys General who filed a lawsuit against a Biden administration rule that would have required the checks, WFAA previously reported.
A similar number of Texans, 90%, supported banning anyone with a restraining order filed against them for stalking or domestic violence from owning a gun. The Supreme Court upheld a federal ban on gun possession of a gun by anyone with a restraining order filed against them.
Over 80% of Texans surveyed also supported gun control laws that have been implemented in other states. That includes raising the age to purchase any firearm from 18 to 21 and support requiring a three-day mandatory waiting period between the purchase of a firearm and when a person can take possession of it.
Nearly three-fourths of those surveyed support a ban on the sale of high-capacity magazines, the study found.
