$12 Million in NRA Spending Could Not Overcome Voter Support for Common-Sense Gun Reforms [View all]

[SecularMotion]

Today, the Center for America Progress Action Fund released the findings of a new bipartisan poll by Mayors Against Illegal Guns that shows that despite pumping nearly $12 million into the election, the gun lobby failed to make an impact in swing states like Colorado, North Carolina, and Virginia.

The poll’s key findings include:
• More voters trust President Obama on guns. Voters in Virginia trusted President Obama over Republican presidential candidate and Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney on gun laws by a nine-point margin. The same was true in North Carolina and Colorado, although President Obama’s advantage fell within each poll’s margin of error.

• Voters strongly support gun law reforms. Wide majorities of voters in all three states, including in gun-owning households, favor a range of gun law reforms now being considered by Congress and state legislatures. As Mayors Against Illegal Guns found previously in research by Republican pollster Frank Luntz, voters overwhelmingly support requiring background checks on all gun sales and support barring sex offenders and individuals with domestic violence arrests from carrying concealed guns across state lines. Majorities also oppose the NRA’s top federal legislative priority—national reciprocity for concealed carry permits—which would allow people to enter any state with a concealed, loaded gun even if they fail to meet local permitting requirements.

• Voters want President Obama to prioritize gun law reforms. While not the primary vote driver, gun policy is a factor for a majority of voters in all three states, with large majorities saying that it should be at least a “somewhat important” priority for President Obama’s second term. Democrats in Virginia and Colorado were more likely than others in their state to call for reform, while independents in North Carolina are most supportive of making gun law reform a priority.

http://www.paramuspost.com/article.php/20121130162335277