Poll: 95 Percent Support Universal Background Checks for Gun Purchases

An overwhelming majority of American voters support universal background checks for gun purchases, according to a Quinnipiac University poll released Wednesday.

The survey's results:

• 95 percent support universal background checks for gun purchases, while 4 percent do not.
• Among those who live in households where a gun is present, 94 percent of voters favor background checks, while 5 percent do not.

The result is the highest level of support for universal checks since the Quinnipiac poll first asked the question in 2013, after the Sandy Hook massacre, the poll report said.

When asked about assault weapons:

• 65 percent support a nationwide ban on assault weapons, while 31 percent oppose an assault weapons ban.
• 51 percent of gun-owning households support an assault weapons ban, while 43 percent of those households oppose such a ban.

Other results:

• 60 percent support stricter gun laws, while 36 percent are against them.
• 91 percent favor a ban on gun sales to those convicted of a violent crime, while 7 percent are against banning sales to those convicted.
• 62 percent favor stricter rules on ammunition sales, while 34 percent are against stricter rules.
• 74 percent favor a ban on gun modifications that could make a gun work more like an automatic weapon, while 24 percent are against such a ban.
• 59 percent said buying a gun in the U.S. is too easy.
• 37 percent said the easiness of buying a gun is a bigger cause of mass shootings; 52 percent said the difficulty of getting mental health care was a bigger cause.

The poll was conducted from Nov. 7-13 in a survey of 1,577 voters around the U.S., with a margin of error of plus or minus 3 percentage points.

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