Most Americans Support Gun Background Checks, Survey Finds - East Idaho News
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Most Americans Support Gun Background Checks, Survey Finds

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Getty 112812 Shotgun?  SQUARESPACE CACHEVERSION=1365150867709Jupiterimages/Thinkstock(NEW YORK) — As Connecticut Gov. Dan Malloy signed on Thursday what is now regarded as the nation’s toughest gun law, Americans seem united in supporting expanded background checks to keep firearms out of the hands of criminals and the mentally unstable.

The latest Quinnipiac survey says that 91 percent of respondents support these checks, including a majority of gun owners.

However, there are also deep concerns, which have been raised by the National Rifle Association, that universal background checks could lead to a national registry for the purpose of taking away people’s guns.

Forty-eight percent of those polled said that they believe the government could use a registry to seize weapons from law-abiding Americans, while 38 percent don’t see that happening.

An overwhelming majority of Republicans and independents say gun confiscation could follow background checks, while only a third of Democrats expressed this belief.

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