A new poll released Wednesday found a majority of Republicans support a potential assault weapons ban following two mass shootings in El Paso, Texas, and Dayton, Ohio.
Morning Consult found 54% of Republicans either strongly or somewhat support an assault weapons ban, while 49% somewhat or strongly oppose it.
The 54% is largely driven by Republican women who, at 64%, positively support an assault weapons ban by nearly 20% more than Republican men.
However, 73% of Republicans said “protecting the rights of Americans to own guns took precedence over limiting gun ownership.”
An overwhelming 85% of Democrats support an assault weapons ban while 11% oppose.
Overall, 60% of registered voters supported the ban while 24% opposed.
Respondents also supported having a three-day waiting period before the gun can be taken home, banning high-capacity magazine sales and raising the age for buying a gun to 21 years old.
The poll comes after two mass shootings in Dayton and El Paso left 31 dead.
President Trump said Wednesday that “we can bring up background checks like we’ve never had before,” which is a policy that is supported by 90 percent of voters, including 90 percent of Republicans.
However, he has said there is “no political appetite” for an assault weapons ban and on Monday called for increased mental health laws over gun laws, saying: “Mental illness and hatred pulls the trigger, not the gun.”
The poll, conducted from Aug. 5-7 with 1,960 registered voters, has a margin of error of plus or minus 2 percentage points.
• Bailey Vogt can be reached at bvogt@washingtontimes.com.
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