National Rifle Association President David Keene, left, announces the NRA's endorsement of Sen. Dean Heller, R-Nev., right, at The Gun Store in Las Vegas Friday, Oct. 12, 2012. (John Locher/Las Vegas Review-Journal)
The Las Vegas Review-Journal
A new Nevada poll suggests that expanding gun background checks is as popular as pizza. It’s not that simple, of course, since gun control is a lot more complicated than a cheesy pie. The survey of 688 Nevada voters was conducted Jan. 20-21 by Public Policy Polling for the liberal groups, ProgressNow Nevada and the Center for American Progress Action Fund. It has a margin of error of plus or minus 3.7 percentage points. According to the poll, 78 percent of Nevadans support requiring a criminal background check of every person who wants to buy a firearm. Some 14 percent were opposed and 8 percent weren’t sure. Asked “do you like pizza or not,” 80 percent said they did, 7 percent said they didn’t and 13 percent said they weren’t sure. (Not sure? That might have been the most puzzling answer in the poll.) With school, college campus and hospital shootings making headlines recently, policymakers have been looking for ways to allow Americans to enjoy their Second Amendment right to bear arms while also trying to keep guns out of the hands of those who might turn to violence. But universal gun background check legislation has failed at both the federal and state levels. U.S. Sen. Dean Heller, R-Nev., voted against a bill that would have expanded criminal background checks to all gun sales at gun shows and online, one poll question noted. Asked if Heller’s vote would make you more or less likely to vote for him, 20 percent said more likely, 43 percent said less likely, 35 percent said it wouldn’t matter and 2 percent weren’t sure. Heller isn’t up for re-election until 2018. Nevadans were split on Heller’s popularity: 39 percent had a favorable opinion of him, 40 percent had an unfavorable opinion and 21 percent weren’t sure. In another question, the pollster noted that last year both houses of the Nevada Legislature voted in favor of a bill to require a background check on all gun sales, but Gov. Brian Sandoval vetoed the measure.
