A majority of voters support increased gun control measures, according to a new poll released Wednesday morning.
Sixty-four percent of all registered voters supported increasing legislation aimed at preventing mass shootings like what happened in Las Vegas earlier this month, according to Morning Consult. Forty-nine percent of self-identified Republican voters agreed, up five percentage points from a similar poll taken in June.
The poll revealed Republican attitudes about some degree of gun control changed significantly since June. A poll taken only a few months ago revealed that 42 percent of Republican voters “strongly opposed” any change in current gun laws. That’s since gone down to only 27 percent who strongly oppose a change, according to this new poll.
Meanwhile, more Republicans strongly support a change, up to 25 percent from 18 percent of all right-leaning voters in June.
Specific proposals were much more popular according to the poll. Eighty-eight percent of respondents agreed the government should mandate background checks on all gun sales, 87 percent agree that anyone reported as dangerous by a mental health provider should be barred from owning a firearm, and 87 percent said that the government should expand screenings and treatment for the mentally ill.
A strong majority of 79 percent of respondents also want to institute a blanket ban of all “bump stocks,” a device that allows a semi-automatic rifle to function like an automatic. The Las Vegas shooter used bump stocks to allow him to send hundreds of rounds into a crowd of concert attendees earlier this month.
Eighty-two percent want to ban gun sales to anyone with a record of “violent misdemeanors,” and another 82 percent want to ban guns for anyone on a federal do-not-fly list.
Morning Consult sampled 1,996 registered voters from Oct. 5 through Oct. 9. The poll carried a margin of error with 2 percentage points in either direction. The Republican subset carried a margin of error of 4 percentage points in either direction.
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