Support for stricter gun laws hits all-time high in poll

Support among American voters for stricter gun control laws has reached an all-time high in a Quinnipiac University poll.

Sixty percent of respondents in the poll said they support tightening gun laws, while 36 percent said they are opposed to doing so. The support for stricter gun control tops the previous high of 54 percent in a June Quinnipiac poll.

Some other polls have pegged support for stricter gun control measures even higher than the Quinnipiac survey. A Politico/Morning Consult poll released Wednesday, for example, put support at 64 percent. 

In the Quinnipiac survey, 73 percent said they support banning devices that allow gun owners to modify semi-automatic rifles to mimic fully automatic weapons. Only 25 percent of voters oppose prohibiting such devices, commonly called bump stocks.

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A majority of voters who identify as Republican — 62 percent — said that such gun modifications should be banned. An even greater percentage of voters who live in households where there is a gun favor outlawing the devices. 

The poll, conducted Oct. 5-10, came amid a reignited national debate over gun control that emerged after a gunman opened fire on a Las Vegas music festival earlier this month. 

The gunman, identified by police as 64-year-old Stephen Paddock, fired down on the Route 91 Harvest Festival from his Las Vegas hotel room, killing 58 people and injuring more than 500 others. Paddock had used bump stock-modified semi-automatic rifles to carry out the attack. 

The mass shooting has prompted calls both Republican and Democratic lawmakers to ban bump stocks. The National Rifle Association, the nation’s largest gun advocacy group, urged the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives to review regulations for the devices. 

Some lawmakers have also called to strengthen background checks for people seeking to purchase firearms, but those calls are mostly coming from Democrats. 

Background checks have wide support among Americans at 94 percent, the Quinnipiac poll found. Even among those in gun-owning households, 93 percent are in favor of background checks.

Nearly two-thirds of respondents say they support a ban on the sale of assault weapons, as well as a prohibition on the sale of high-capacity magazines that hold more than 10 rounds. 

The survey polled 1,482 voters and has a margin or error of 3 percentage points.