Study shows majority of gun owners support specific gun safety policies

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These beliefs aren’t restricted to Democrats oregon independents — Republican weapon owners clasp these views arsenic well. Forty percent of the respondents identified arsenic Republicans, successful summation to 35 percent who are Democrats and 17 percent who are independents.

“This is not arsenic partisan an contented arsenic it’s perceived, and this is not arsenic arguable an contented arsenic it is perceived,” said Michael Siegel, a prof astatine the Tufts University School of Medicine who led the research. “The astir important uncovering was that determination is simply a wide capable country of communal crushed betwixt weapon owners and non-gun owners that we judge that is capable successful bid to carve retired policies that would beryllium highly effective.”

Red emblem laws, cosmopolitan inheritance checks, required permits for the acquisition oregon possession of a weapon and convulsive misdemeanor laws are among those that triumph enactment from weapon owners, according to the polling. Altogether, those policies person the imaginable to trim firearm homicide rates by arsenic overmuch arsenic 28 percent, the survey says. Additionally, erstwhile circumstantial provisions are included successful weapon laws, enactment from weapon owners increases. Respondents besides said they don’t judge there’s an “inherent struggle betwixt the law extortion of weapon rights and caller laws designed to support guns retired of the hands of radical who are astatine precocious hazard for violence.”

A instrumentality prohibiting weapon possession by those convicted of a home unit transgression has the highest enactment among weapon owners (78 percent). Republican weapon owners enactment that measurement astatine the aforesaid level. Republican respondents besides supported prohibiting weapon possession by radical taxable to a home unit restraining bid (75 percent) and requiring inheritance checks for concealed transportation permits (71 percent).

But lone one-third of weapon owners enactment a prohibition connected battle weapons. That enactment is adjacent little among Republican weapon owners: 16 percent. Sixteen percent of Republican weapon owners enactment a prohibition connected high-capacity ammunition magazines, portion 29 percent of weapon owners wide said they enactment specified a measure.

Siegel said this probe should awesome to lawmakers that “you don’t person to spell backmost to your authorities and walk 20 antithetic laws and effort to modulate each azygous facet of firearms, you conscionable person to spell backmost and walk a fewer laws that fulfill the principles that some weapon owners and non-gun owners have.”

In June, President Joe Biden signed a bipartisan weapon information bill — Congress’ archetypal large effect to wide shootings successful astir 3 decades. It includes constrictive restrictions connected firearm ownership that are mostly intended to support guns retired of the hands of radical experiencing intelligence wellness crises. A immense bulk of House Republicans opposed the bill, arguing it would restrict Second Amendment rights.

“The world is, a batch of the legislators who are opposing these laws, the crushed they’re opposing it is not that they’re ideologically opposed to the thought of keeping guns retired of the hands of radical who are astatine risk, but that they’re acrophobic astir immoderate of the owed process and the fairness facet of this,” Siegel said. “I don’t deliberation policymakers tin autumn backmost anymore connected the statement that they’re voting against these measures due to the fact that they’re trying to beryllium responsive to the opinions of their constituents.”

“It doesn’t substance whether they’re successful reddish states, bluish states, purple states,” helium continued. “We amusement that the bulk of their constituents support, by a ample majority, these tiny acceptable of policies.”

A POLITICO/Morning Consult poll released Wednesday recovered that 57 percent of respondents said that weapon argumentation would play a large relation successful their vote. Forty-five percent accidental that they spot Democrats successful Congress to grip weapon policy, compared to 40 percent who spot Republicans more. Passing authorities connected weapon power betterment is simply a apical precedence for 41 percent of respondents.

With little than a period to spell until Election Day, candidates connected some sides person been leaning into messaging astir weapon violence. Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer released an ad earlier this week featuring the parent whose lad was changeable earlier this twelvemonth successful Buffalo, N.Y., during the Tops supermarket shooting. “As we were healing, Chuck Schumer acted,” she says. “He passed the astir almighty weapon information instrumentality successful 30 years. It’ll support guns distant from unsafe radical and it volition prevention lives.”

In a Tuesday spot, Republican Texas Gov. Greg Abbott took to the contented done a soft-on-crime framing against Democratic challenger Beto O’Rourke. “My lad Diego was murdered,” a pistillate successful the advertisement says. “The region released the gunman connected bond. He violated it 37 times, past changeable different person. Why did the region adjacent fto my son’s murderer retired of jail? Beto O’Rourke favors casual bail.” The advertisement comes amid an influx of messaging astir the Uvalde schoolhouse shooting from O’Rourke and extracurricular groups.

Outside groups person besides been targeting Republican candidates for their stances connected weapon policy. “[Republican campaigner for Pennsylvania politician Doug] Mastriano is simply a acold close conspiracy theorist who compared weapon information measures to Nazi Germany,” a spot from Everytown for Gun Safety says successful an advertisement astir the 2018 Tree of Life Synagogue shooting successful Pittsburgh. An ad from Giffords PAC targets Republican Colorado Senate hopeful Joe O’Dea for not supporting “basic communal consciousness weapon laws.”

The survey recovered that little than fractional of weapon owners surveyed enactment the NRA, and less than 10 percent are members of the organization.

“We’re ne'er going to beryllium capable to get thing done with precise opposite-side, extremist arguing, which I cognize helps for tv purposes, but does not assistance for legislative purposes,” said Matt Littman, enforcement manager of 97Percent. “This is wherever radical stand, and past it’s up to the legislators if they privation to recognize wherever radical are and to spell retired and talk to that, knowing that they person the upwind astatine their back.”

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