How They DifferAbbott · Hinojosa 2026
A no bullshit non-partisan comparison of political candidates
Aggregate score
Abbott 3.9Hinojosa 5.4 H +1.5
Issues

Gun Rights

Greg Abbott (R)

Abbott signed HB 1927 — Texas's permitless 'constitutional carry' law — on June 16, 2021, eliminating the license, training, and shooting-proficiency requirements that had governed handgun carry; it took effect September 1, 2021. After the May 2022 Uvalde shooting that killed 19 children and two teachers, Abbott declined to call a special session on guns and told Uvalde families that raising the minimum age to buy an AR-15-style rifle from 18 to 21 would be 'unconstitutional' under recent court rulings — a claim PolitiFact and gun-law experts disputed; HB 2744, backed by Robb Elementary families, died in 2023. He signed HB 3 in June 2023 requiring an armed officer at every Texas school and expanding active-shooter protocols, raising the safety allotment to $10 per student plus $15,000 per school. He has consistently opposed red flag laws, telling The Dallas Express in 2026 'I'm against red flag laws,' and the 2025 SB 1362 preemptively bars Texas judges from issuing extreme-risk protection orders.

Gina Hinojosa (D)

Hinojosa opposed Texas's 2021 permitless-carry law (HB 1927), raising a point of order on the House floor that temporarily stalled the bill before its 84-56 passage. She authored a 2017 TribTalk op-ed laying out a Texas gun-violence-prevention agenda including expanded public education on safe gun usage and requiring a license to carry long guns, writing that 'gun violence is a public safety and public health issue.' After Uvalde, she said lawmakers should 'be real about our ability to keep public safe from AR-15s,' noting AR-15s are banned in the Texas Capitol because they 'can't keep lawmakers safe' against that firepower. She has appeared at 'March for Our Lives' rallies in Austin alongside Parkland and Sandy Hook survivors. The available record does not include a specific Hinojosa endorsement of a Texas red-flag/extreme-risk-protection-order statute or of raising the long-gun purchase age to 21, though Uvalde families have pushed the latter.

Sources

  1. Cassandra Pollock, 'Abbott signs HB 1927, Texas permitless-carry law,' Texas Tribune, June 16, 2021. (full list)
  2. Patrick Svitek, 'Abbott says raising AR-15 purchase age unconstitutional,' Texas Tribune, Aug. 31, 2022. (full list)
  3. PolitiFact, 'Experts disagree with Abbott that raising AR-15 age is unconstitutional,' Sept. 21, 2022. (full list)
  4. Brian Lopez, 'Texas school safety law: HB 3 requires armed officer at every school,' Texas Tribune, May 28, 2023. (full list)
  5. Yahoo News, 'Texas Gov. Abbott touts 2nd Amendment record, opposes red-flag laws,' 2026. (full list)
  6. Houston Public Media, 'Texas House gives initial approval to constitutional carry — Hinojosa point of order,' April 16, 2021. (full list)
  7. Gina Hinojosa, 'We can prevent gun violence in Texas now,' TribTalk, Nov. 8, 2017. (full list)
  8. PBS NewsHour, 'Texas hearings on Uvalde shooting don't address gun reform,' 2022 — quotes Hinojosa on AR-15 capacity. (full list)
  9. Texas Tribune, 'Texas gun bills after Uvalde: what passed and what died,' May 23, 2023. (full list)