Poll: Slight majority favor more gun laws

The Record’s online poll from May 25 through June 3 asked readers whether they think Texas should enact stronger gun regulations, in the wake of the Santa Fe High School shooting that left 10 dead in May.

Texas Gov. Greg Abbott announced on May 23 that he could support stronger regulations for gun storage and quicker reporting to law enforcement when a court has determined someone is mentally ill in order to keep them from having weapons.

Abbott said those were top considerations to emerge after a three-day meeting with representatives from a gun control group as well as gun owners and experts in mental health and education in discussions on school safety. The discussions were in response to the shooting at Santa Fe High School.

Police have said the 17-year-old suspect in the shooting used his father’s shotgun and .38-caliber handgun. Abbott said he and lawmakers need to look at how to address gun storage laws that might have prevented the shooter from getting the weapons.

At a crowded press conference on May 30, held at the Hays County Law Enforcement Center in San Marcos, Abbott further announced the details of the School and Firearm Safety Action Plan, a 40-point school safety plan.

The governor’s plan includes increasing the law enforcement presence at schools immediately and training more school marshals over the summer, matching grants from the state to reimburse campuses for the cost of more law enforcement officers, providing active shooter and emergency response training and hardening campuses with measures like metal detectors and better control of entrances and exits. The plan also includes extensive measures to prevent shootings in the first place, such as increased mental health evaluations and mental health first aid training, expanded on-campus counseling resources and Crime Stoppers programs, more fusion centers to monitor social media for threats, and an app for students to report anything they think might indicate a threat.

Abbott’s plan also includes some measures to improve firearm safety like closing information gaps, studying a protective order law to keep guns out of the hands of people legally adjudicated to be mentally unfit to have a gun and mandating a 48-hour reporting period of adjudications affecting gun ownership. Currently, there is a 30-day period for courts to report disqualifying felony convictions and mental health adjudications.

Proponents of stronger gun regulations have said Texas should enact tougher background checks for gun sales and “red flag” laws that keep guns away from people deemed a danger to themselves or others. And gun rights advocates have spoken out against any attempt to expand laws that could be used to seize or deny guns from someone without due process or a second review if they are deemed mentally ill.

The poll asking, “Do you think Texas should enact stronger gun regulation?” received a total of 103 votes, with the majority of votes – 53 percent – going to option “Texas should enact tougher gun laws and ‘red flag’ laws to keep guns from people dangerous to themselves or others.” Forty-seven percent, or 48 votes, chose, “No, Texas shouldn’t seize or deny guns from someone without due process.”

A slight majority of poll voters think Texas should enact stronger gun laws and “‘red flag” laws to keep guns from people dangerous to themselves or others. Every week, the Record gives its readers the opportunity to voice their opinions on different topics. This poll does not, and does not purport to, accurately depict public opinion. It is only intended to inspire thoughtprovoking discussion within the community.

SMDR’s new poll is available online now, and asks for reader’s opinions on whether Texas State University should develop the 14-acre parcel of land it is in the process of buying. It can be voted on now at www.sanmarcosrecord.com.