Almost every U.S. voter supports requiring background checks for gun buyers — again.
According to a new poll, 93 percent of voters — including 92 percent of voters in gun-owning households — support “requiring background checks for all gun buyers.”
Support is 90 percent or higher among every demographic listed in a new Quinnipiac University poll released Thursday.
Support for universal background checks ranges from 88 percent to 93 percent in eight Quinnipiac national polls conducted since the Sandy Hook massacre in December 2012.
Earlier this month, the Senate considered a series of gun control proposals and rejected all four. That included one Republican amendment that would have tightened the nation’s background check system, and a Democratic one that would have expanded background checks.
The poll also found that voters overwhelmingly support the idea that people on the government’s terrorist watch list should be prevented from purchasing guns, 86-12. This includes 83 percent support among voters in households where there is a gun.
The Senate rejected two different amendments to prevent suspected terrorists from buying guns.
Overall, voters are slightly torn when asked if they support stricter gun laws. The poll said 54 percent favor more gun control laws nationwide, and 42 percent are opposed, but that’s the highest level of support ever recorded in the poll.
When asked about assault weapons, 59 percent supported a nationwide ban on the sale of assault weapons, but just 47 percent said that ban would help reduce gun violence. Forty-nine percent said the ban would not be effective.
However, 62 percent believe expanding background checks would help reduce violence, as 57 percent of voters said it is too easy to buy a gun in the U.S.
The landline and cellphone poll was conducted June 21-27, surveying 1,610 registered voters nationwide with an overall margin of error of plus or minus 2.4 percent.
