Election 2019: Poll finds Virginia voters focused on gun policy ahead of pivotal election
RICHMOND — Gun policy is the top issue for Virginia voters just one month before pivotal elections that will determine control of the state legislature, according to a Washington Post-Schar School poll.
That could be a positive sign for Democrats, who have seized on gun control in the months since a gunman killed 12 people at a Virginia Beach municipal building on May 31. Three out of four voters rate gun policy as a “very important” issue in casting their ballots, and majorities support proposals pitched by the Democrats, including statewide bans on assault weapons and high-capacity ammunition clips as well as limiting gun purchases to one a month.
Overwhelming majorities favor expanding background checks and “red flag” laws allowing authorities to take weapons away from someone deemed a danger.
But the voters most concerned about gun policy split almost evenly between supporting Democratic candidates, 47 percent, and Republican candidates, 44 percent. Nearly every Republican officeholder has opposed gun control measures.
That signals that both sides of the gun control debate are energized for the Nov. 5 elections, when all 140 seats in the General Assembly are on the ballot. Republicans are defending thin majorities of 51 to 48 in the House of Delegates and 20 to 19 in the Senate, with one vacancy in each chamber.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/local/virginia-politics/new-poll-finds-virginia-voters-focused-on-gun-policy-ahead-of-pivotal-election/2019/10/03/db034922-e472-11e9-a331-2df12d56a80b_story.html
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