In recent years, Texas has suffered some of the deadliest mass shooting incidents in modern US history, yet Texas lawmakers have responded by continuing to weaken the state’s most basic gun safety laws.
Texas is by far the leading source of guns trafficked across the southern border and fueling gun violence in Mexico and Central America. In 2022, Texas had the twenty-sixth highest gun death rate among the states. In an average year, 4,122 people die from gun violence in the state. That means someone dies from gun violence every 2 hours. Fifty-eight percent of those deaths are gun suicides, and 39% are gun homicides. In Texas, the rate of gun deaths increased by 44% from 2013 to 2022, compared to a 36% increase nationwide.
What Texas Does Well
- Mental health record reporting
- Child access prevention laws
What Texas Is Missing
- Universal background checks
- Gun owner licensing
- Extreme risk protection orders
- Most domestic violence gun laws
- Assault weapon restrictions
- Large capacity magazine ban
- Waiting periods
- Strong concealed carry law
- Open carry regulations
- Community violence intervention funding
SPOTLIGHT
GUN LAW SCORECARD
The data is clear: states with stronger gun laws have less gun violence. See how your state compares in our annual ranking.
Read MoreEXPLORE TEXAS’S GUN LAWS
WHO CAN HAVE A GUN
OWNER RESPONSIBILITIES
CHILD & CONSUMER SAFETY
GUNS IN PUBLIC
HARDWARE & AMMUNITION
OTHER LAWS & POLICIES
SUPPORT GUN SAFETY
We’re in this together. To build a safer America—one where children and parents in every neighborhood can learn, play, work, and worship without fear of gun violence—we need you standing beside us in this fight.
