A new Quinnipiac poll released Wednesday shows Florida voters reject idea of arming school teachers while overwhelmingly supporting other gun measures, including required background checks for gun buyers and bans on assault weapons.
The poll revealed that Florida voters oppose arming teachers by 56 percent to 40 percent, but 51 percent said “increased security at school entrances” would reduce gun violence in schools compared to 32 percent who said stricter gun laws would do the same. Just 12 percent said arming teachers would keep schools safe.
Arming schoolteachers has been a primary solution pushed forward by the National Rifle Association and guns rights advocates as a deterrent to prevent school shootings like the one in Parkland from occurring. President Trump has also argued in favor for arming schoolteachers, but has said recently the decision should be up to the states.
On the question of assault rifles, 62 percent of Florida voters support a nationwide ban on the sale of “assault weapons” while 33 percent was opposed. In another question on “semi-automatic rifles,” voters were more divided, but the margin remained wide with 53 to 42 percent in support of a ban.
Sixty-five percent of Florida voters supported “stricter gun laws” with 29 percent opposed, with support for required background checks for all gun buyers nearly universal at 96 percent support.
Other gun laws received favorable scores from Florida voters. Sixty-two percent supported a nationwide ban on the sale of high-capacity magazines able to hold more than ten rounds versus 34 percent opposed, 87 percent supported a mandatory waiting period on all gun purchases with 10 percent opposed, 78 percent supported a law requiring the minimum age required to purchase a gun to be raised to 21 with 20 percent opposed, 89 percent supported allowing police or family members to ask a judge to take away guns from someone who may be a violent threat with 8 percent opposed, and 92 percent supported a ban on gun ownership for anyone with a restraining order with 6 percent opposed.
Some of these measures have received some bipartisan support from lawmakers, primarily the proposal to raise the minimum age to purchase a firearm and to legally take away guns from those posing a risk for violent behavior. The Florida Republican governor and U.S. Senate candidate Rick Scott has already called for the passage of these two measures, breaking with the NRA, which has opposed raising the minimum age to buy a gun.
“The notion that we are bitterly divided on political matters — the case for the past decades — has found an exception to that rule,” said Assistant Director of the Quinnipiac University Poll Peter Brown. “Floridians are strongly united that more needs to be done to reign in guns, especially the type of gun used this month to massacre 17 people in Parkland,” which was an AR-15.
The poll comes as the state joins the nation grappling with the issue on guns in the aftermath of the recent shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Fla., where 17 people were killed.
