Battleground States Voters Demand a Plan to End Gun Violence
Nov 30, 2012
A new poll released by Mayors Against Illegal Guns shows wide majorities of voters in key battleground states favor stronger gun laws and want President Obama to make them a priority
The poll results, available here in a press release from the Center for American Progress, undermine the longstanding myth that prioritizing common sense gun law reform is bad politics. Instead, the data show that voters want real changes to our broken gun laws. These responses from more than 1,500 voters come on the heels of a strong push from the NRA during the last election season. They bet big, and spent more than $18 million on candidates who wanted to overturn local standards on issues like concealed carry and background checks. But in all but one of the seven Senate races where the gun lobby spent more than $100,000 in independent expenditures on candidates opposed to reform, the NRA's candidate lost.
What’s clear is that no matter how much money the gun lobby spends trying to convince us otherwise, Americans want their families and communities to be safe--and they support the common sense gun laws that will protect public safety. This polling and the results of the recent election have shown that the NRA doesn't have the power that it once did -- and it should remind politicians around the country that they have nothing to lose by doing the right thing and asserting some leadership on reducing gun violence.
The poll was the subject of an article in Politico.
