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AssaultWeapons.jpg
A large majority of Washington voters support an assault weapons ban, according to a new poll. Gun rights advocates say a poll of attitudes is of little value. (AP file photo)

Survey: Washington residents support assault weapons ban

January 22, 2013 @ 4:43 pm (Updated: 5:43 am - 1/23/13 )

Most Washington residents support stronger background checks for gun purchasers and banning assault weapons, according to a new statewide poll.

Washington Ceasefire, a grass-roots organization working to end gun violence, commissioned the poll which was conducted by a consulting group that represents both Republicans and Democrats.

Overall, the poll found 76 percent of state residents support tighter gun laws.

About 87 percent of Washington residents want better background checks of gun buyers. That means requiring background checks for all firearm purchases, even from private dealers at gun shows.

When it comes to assault weapons, 66 percent support a ban on semi-automatic weapons.

Washington Ceasefire's Ralph Fascitelli says the poll suggests voters are "far ahead of state elected officials who have passed only one gun reform so far in this century, and seems to be struggling to reach a consensus in the current session, even in the wake of Sandy Hook and other recent mass shooting incidents such as Cafe Racer."

Gun rights activists say there is little value in a poll of attitudes.

"Remember, these are the guys who had the poll back in 1997 that said they were going to win Initiative 676, and they lost nearly 3 to 1," says Dave Workman, communications director for the Citizens Committee for the Right to Keep and Bear Arms and a former member of the NRA Board of Directors.

Initiative 676, would have required that trigger locks to be sold with handguns, along with requiring handgun owners to take an eight-hour safety training course.

"The firearms community isn't opposed to background checks," Workman tells me, "but they must be immediate, and they can't involve the creation of a de facto gun owner registry."

The poll consisted of 600 phone interviews, and has an error margin of plus or minus 4.1 percent.

It also found "widespread confusion" about what gun laws we have in place at present.

For example, over 40 percent of voters and gun owners alike believe Washington already bans assault weapons and high-capacity magazine clips. More than 70 percent believe every gun purchase requires a background check.

By LINDA THOMAS

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Comments (130)


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  • Sam Sasquatch wrote...
    HOW DOES
    January 23, 2013 10:58 am
    Polling 600 people in this state consitute the majority? Oh wait, I forgot what state I live in.
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  • sometimesrock wrote...
    wow
    January 23, 2013 11:00 am
    Lots of people freaking out about a survey.. done like every survey.. for everything. Thanks Linda for reporting news.
    { "Thumbs Up":"1","Thumbs Down":"-1" }
  • tall166 wrote...
    Polls?
    January 23, 2013 11:07 am
    Hmmm. I have never been polled by anyone. Seems everyone I have talked to on this issue is not anti-gun. How accurate could a poll of 600 people be ? Why not poll all of WA. instead of guessing?
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  • It's me! Ha ha! wrote...
    The entire state!
    January 23, 2013 11:08 am
    Represented by a survey done in the "Blue bottomless void" between Everett south through Seattle to Tacoma.

    Everyone in that area mostly are Obamaton drones who agree with anything their Dear Leader tells them!

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  • GoldFish wrote...
    People are dumb
    January 23, 2013 11:16 am
    no one even knows what an assault rifle is or what a semi-auto weapon is for that matter. I think many people actually get semi-auto and full auto confused, because they are that dumb. Besides the main assault rifle they show is an AR-15, which fires a .223 round, which is a round designed to wound instead of kill people. In military theory it is better to wound combatants than to kill them because if you wound someone it takes two additional soldiers to carry that wounded man away, three for one shot! I would rather be shot with a .223 than a 9mm or .40 cal handgun any day. Also, Anthony Lazana never even fired his assault rifle in that school, but nobody seems to acknowledge that. People are dumb.
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  • Cbrew wrote...
    I agree with a lot of Democrat ideas but not Gun Control
    January 23, 2013 12:02 pm
    look, Guns are tools they are not the cause of the violence only the tool with which it's achieved by some, should we ban spoons because people get fat using them to eat too much? It's stupid. Gun laws only affect 1 group of people, those who actually follow the law. Taking law abiding citizens guns away does not stop criminals from acquiring them, it only makes it harder for regular citizens to get them. We are ignoring the real problem and focusing on the inadement object that doesn't decide how it is used. Personally i believe it is my right to have guns should i choose to own them. I feel that an armed public is necessary in a free society. I also believe it's stupid to give up these weapons when it's obvious that criminals will still obtain them. Now if a criminal is already willing to break the law to acquire a banned gun, and that criminal comes to my house to harm my family i'm supposed to fight back with what? I'm sorry people, the cops aren't everywhere in many places it can take more than 30 minutes for any law enforcement to arrive. In a circumstance like that, it sure would be nice to know i had an assault weapon at the ready. People who argue for these bans forget who they're really taking guns out of the hands of. It's me and you... law abiding folks in search of freedom and prosperity... not criminals who intend to do us harm.
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  • Cbrew wrote...
    I can't speak to the validity of this poll... however,
    January 23, 2013 12:25 pm
    I am always cautious about polls unless the details of the polls are released. I am reminded of a college professor I had whenever I read results of a poll. She put a statistic in front of us that shocked all of us, she said, would it suprise you to learn that in a recent poll taken, 2/3rds of women reported being unfaithful to their current partner. The poll was over 1000 women across the country. It appeared to be a fair representation of the general public, if not for one thing, the poll was from 1000 subscribers of Cosmo magazine that chose to participate. There's two issues with that poll, 1. These are specifically women who subscribe to a racey magazine that often promotes infidelity, and 2. the responses were from women that WANTED to take the poll, It is a fact that people who are directly affected by the specific question are more likely to respond to the poll, in other words, a faithful woman would be far less likely to take the poll in the first place because the question doesn't really relate to them. So this is why scientific polls are so important, to remove as much bias as possible, the audience has to be absolutely random, you can't pick and choose who you poll if you want a true representation, also, you have to keep the questions blind to participants until they are taking the poll, you can't tell them what the poll is about or reveal the questions of the poll and allow only the folks that WANT to respond to the specific question to be counted in the poll results... Essentially you need to contact random people from random places, and ask if they are willing to take a poll, not specifically about the topic you are polling. If they agree, then and only then reveal what the poll is about, that is the best way to get an unbiased poll. This poll taken above in my view doesn't represent true public opinion, based on what i see and hear from the small number of folks i know, however i won't challenge it's validity since i don't really know how they took the poll and whether or not it was a scientific poll.
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  • Iklwa wrote...
    Bull Feathers
    January 23, 2013 12:33 pm
    Oh yes, there are polls galore that show this, that and the other thing. Even if “assault weapons” are banned, will that have anything to do with reality? I doubt it. Criminals will still get illegal guns. The only difference being there will only be more illegal firearms from which to choose. What about doing drug tests for firearms purchasers? What about adding those who have been deemed mentally unstable to the firearms background checking system? What about sentencing firearms criminals to mandatory penalties and not letting them out early? What about placing armed guards in every school? Until liberals begin discussing actions that will actually have benefits, I take all of this propaganda as so much bull feathers.
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  • Dmjones88 wrote...
    All of 522 favor the assault weapons ban
    January 23, 2013 12:57 pm
    So 600 people were polled, probably from King County and most likely Seattle and of those people 522 favored the ban. Skewed results, not scientific and definitely not enough to declare that 82% of the ENTIRE population of Washington state is in favor. A clear case of the media trying to direct people's behavior to suite an agenda.
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  • AceBass wrote...
    You can bet
    January 23, 2013 1:05 pm
    as soon as all these semi auto types of weapons are removed from circulation the next favorite weapon of murderers will be pump shotguns, bolt action rifles and six shooter handguns. Those will be next and you KNOW IT. All I can say is "STOP" these idiot lawmakers and the ignorant uneducated Washingtonians in K-P-S counties from surrendering away all our rights. JOIN THE NRA!!!
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  • southi5 wrote...
    A Majority
    January 23, 2013 1:03 pm
    of people in Washngton State could simply mean that the people of Seattle support this. We can twist survey results any direction we want.
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