Why Texas Should Look to California When it Comes to Gun Control Laws

There have been more than 17 mass shootings in Texas since January 1, 2023. The most recent taking place in Allen Texas, killing eight and hospitalizing seven. Many Texans are concerned about their safety and want to know what the state’s plan is to keep its residents safe.

Texas currently has a permitless carry law in effect, allowing people to carry handguns without a license, background check, or safety training. At the same time, a University of Texas poll found that 64% of Texas voters were against this law, including 56% of gun owners.

Texas also requires children in the seventh grade and older to know how to use ‘bleeding control stations’ in case of a school shooting.

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Knowing this, many people are looking to other states with stricter gun laws to see if what they are doing would be effective to implement in Texas. One state that tends to come up in conversation is California.

As of 2022, California ranked #1 for gun safety by Giffordds Law Center. They were documented to have a 37% lower gun death rate than the national average, and 58% lower average gun death rate for children with 8.5 gun deaths per 100,000 people. This is compared to the 13.7 deaths per 100,000 overall national average and 14.2 per 100,000 in Texas.

Californians are also considered 25% less likely to die in a mass shooting with a mass shooting homicide rate of 1.4 per one million compared to the national average of 1.9 per one million.

They maintain these numbers with their red flag law, assault weapon ban, gun purchasing waiting period, universal background checks, mental health reporting, and age restrictions.

Despite all of this, it is important to know that California is the state to have the most mass shootings so far in 2023. They have had a total of 18 mass shootings, with Texas very close behind at 17 mass shootings this year. On the other hand, Texas has had four school shootings in 2023 and California has had zero.