Second Reading Podcast: Guns & the border take center stage as the Texas Legislature enters its final weeks

In a new Second Reading Podcast, Jim Henson and Josh Blank look at what the latest University of Texas/Texas Politics Project Poll tells us about the suprising movement of a bill that would raise the legal age for purchasing some firearms from 18- to 21 years of age, and Gov. Abbott's latest actions on the US-Mexico border.

A few of the poll results discussed in the podcast. More results of the April 2023 UT/Texas Politics Project Poll can be found in the blog entry created for the rollout of the poll and in our polling archive. And here's a link directly to the final calendar deadlines for the Texas Legislature.

Gun safety measures

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categoryTotal
Strongly support48%
Somewhat support24%
Somewhat oppose9%
Strongly oppose9%
Don't know/No opinion10%

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CategoryDemocratIndependentRepublican
Strongly support71%34%34%
Somewhat support17%17%30%
Somewhat oppose5%10%12%
Strongly oppose1%17%16%
Don't know/No opinion7%22%8%

Border security

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categoryDemocratsIndependentsRepublicans
Feb. 201514%33%59%
June 201514%25%59%
Oct. 201512%32%57%
Feb. 201617%28%54%
June 20168%29%52%
Oct. 20167%32%56%
Feb. 20178%21%51%
June 20177%36%51%
Oct. 201712%30%44%
Feb. 201812%32%48%
June 20188%24%53%
Oct. 20189%29%62%
Feb. 201911%29%62%
June 201911%35%59%
Oct. 201912%28%57%
Feb. 202010%32%52%
Apr. 20201%8%28%
June 20203%14%29%
Oct. 20203%11%30%
Feb. 20212%23%46%
Mar. 20218%35%61%
Apr. 20216%35%65%
June 20216%35%59%
Aug. 20212%29%64%
Oct. 20212%26%68%
Feb. 20223%28%58%
Apr. 20224%31%61%
June 20222%19%45%
Aug. 20224%38%54%
Oct. 20224%35%61%
Dec. 20223%27%60%
Feb. 20235%32%59%
Apr. 20235%19%57%
June 20237%39%59%
Aug. 20235%38%59%
Oct. 20239%43%60%
Dec. 20237%32%61%
Feb. 202414%44%68%
Apr. 202413%40%63%
June 20249%34%61%
Aug. 20247%25%53%
Oct. 20247%27%53%

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categoryTotal
Extremely important37%
Very important22%
Somewhat important18%
Not very important8%
Not important12%
Don't know/No opinion4%

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CategoryDemocratIndependentRepublican
Extremely important15%24%63%
Very important18%23%24%
Somewhat important25%12%10%
Not very important16%6%2%
Not important23%21%1%
Don't know/No opinion3%13%0%

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CategoryLean conservativeSomewhat conservativeExtremely conservative
Extremely important33%63%74%
Very important36%24%16%
Somewhat important21%9%7%
Not very important6%2%0%
Not important2%1%0%
Don't know/No opinion1%2%3%

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