Still, the poll suggests Virginia voters strongly back an assault weapons ban. | REUTERS Virginia poll: Arm school guards

Bucking the national trend, Virginia voters, by a wide margin, want an armed guard in every school, but they do strongly back an assault weapons ban, according to a poll Thursday.

A Quinnipiac University poll found that Old Dominion voters favor putting an armed police officer at every school, 66 percent to 29 percent.


That figure is at odds with national sentiment: Most Americans oppose that idea, which was put forth by the National Rifle Association in the wake of the shootings at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Conn., last month. According to a Public Policy Polling survey released Wednesday, 50 percent of American voters don’t want armed guards in schools, while 41 percent do.

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The Virginia poll also found that the vast majority of voters in that state support background checks for gun purchases made at gun shows, 92 percent to 7 percent, and support “limiting gun purchases to one per month,” 60 percent to 36 percent.

An assault weapons ban, which some lawmakers have promised to introduce, is backed 58 percent to 39 percent by Virginia voters.

Half of those surveyed by Quinnipiac view owning guns as a way to combat crime, and 41 percent said gun ownership is risky.

The survey of 1,134 registered voters was conducted Jan. 4-7 and has a margin of error of plus-or-minus 2.9 percentage points.