Overall, nearly three-in-four voters, 73 percent, support stricter gun laws, according to a new POLITICO/Morning Consult poll. | Zach Gibson/Getty Images POLITICO/MORNING CONSULT POLL Poll: Most Republicans support assault weapons ban, despite Trump saying 'no appetite'

Most Republicans would support legislation banning assault-style weapons, a new POLITICO/Morning Consult poll found Wednesday — a finding that contradicts President Donald Trump's claim earlier the same day that there's "no political appetite" for such restrictions.

The poll found that nearly 70 percent of all voters would back such a ban. Support for an assault-weapons ban was higher, at 86 percent, among Democrats, who have been pushing for new restrictions on the firearms in the wake of two mass shootings over the weekend.


Republicans typically are more reticent to support new gun restrictions, and Trump campaigned in 2016 on his strong support for the Second Amendment. But the poll found that 55 percent of GOP voters were comfortable with banning assault weapons, and 54 percent said they would support stricter gun laws more generally. Ninety percent said they would back universal background checks for gun sales.

Only 23 percent of all voters oppose an assault weapons ban, the poll found.

The poll was conducted Aug. 5-7, in the immediate aftermath of two mass shootings. A lone gunman opened fire Saturday at a Walmart in El Paso, Texas, killing 22 people. Then, early Sunday morning, another gunman murdered nine people in Dayton, Ohio.

In the past, support for strengthening gun laws has spiked in surveys from POLITICO/Morning Consult and other pollsters after mass shootings. Support typically recedes in the weeks after the attacks, though many of the measures being proposed in the wake of this weekend’s shootings remain broadly — and, in some cases, overwhelmingly — popular even outside these temporal surges.

Overall, 73 percent of voters support stricter gun laws, the poll shows — up from 67 percent in the spring of 2018. The remaining 27 percent oppose stricter gun laws. Majorities of Democrats (91 percent), Republicans (54 percent) and independents (70 percent) support stricter gun laws.

Voters almost unanimously want mandatory universal background checks on gun purchasers. More than 91 percent support requiring background checks for all gun sales. Only 5 percent of voters oppose background checks.

While Trump poured cold water Wednesday on a possible assault weapons ban, he said he was optimistic background-check legislation could reach his desk, despite past congressional inaction on the issue.

“There is a great appetite, and I mean a very strong appetite, for background checks. And I think we can bring up background checks like we’ve never had before,” Trump said. “I think both Republican[s] and Democrat[s] are getting close to a bill on — to doing something with background checks.”

But a number of other proposed measures are also very popular, the POLITICO/Morning Consult poll shows: 89 percent of voters want to block gun sales to people who have been reported as dangerous to law enforcement by mental health providers. Only 6 percent of voters oppose those restrictions.

Eighty-four percent of voters want to prevent people convicted of violent misdemeanors from purchasing guns. A similar percentage, 83 percent, support limiting gun purchases to those 21 and older. Eighty percent think there should be a mandatory three-day waiting period before someone can take home a gun. And 72 percent support banning high-capacity magazines.

But although voters support these measures, they aren’t optimistic Congress will act, even after this weekend’s shootings. Only 39 percent said they think it’s very or somewhat likely Congress passes gun control legislation in the next year. A slight majority, 52 percent, said it’s either not very likely or not likely at all.

Backing for a number of gun-safety measures also doesn’t mean voters have antipathy for gun rights. Voters are split when asked which is more important: limiting gun ownership (44 percent) or protecting Americans’ right to own guns (44 percent).

And slightly more voters said the National Rifle Association supports policies that are mostly good for the U.S., 39 percent, than mostly bad for the U.S., 36 percent.

But between federal inaction on gun control and the El Paso shooting suspect’s apparent political motive, the poll suggests voters believe Trump should be doing more.

“Voters are more inclined to hold President Trump responsible for mass shootings following this weekend’s gun violence in Dayton and El Paso,” Tyler Sinclair, Morning Consult’s vice president, said in a statement. “Notably, 30 percent of voters say they blame President Trump ‘a lot’ for mass shootings, compared to 21 percent who said the same after the Parkland school massacre.”

The POLITICO/Morning Consult poll surveyed 1,960 registered voters and has a margin of error of plus or minus 2 percentage points.

Morning Consult is a nonpartisan media and technology company that provides data-driven research and insights on politics, policy and business strategy.

More details on the poll and its methodology can be found in these two documents: Toplines: https://politi.co/33iSzKd | Crosstabs: https://politi.co/2Kw1wY8