Poll: 97 percent support background checks for all gun buyers

Support for universal background checks has hit a record high, according to a new poll conducted in the wake of last week’s deadly school shooting in Florida.

Ninety-seven percent of those surveyed in the Quinnipiac University poll released Tuesday said they support requiring background checks for all gun buyers, while just 2 percent were opposed.

That’s up from the 95 percent support found in Quinnipiac polls released in mid-November and mid-December, which were themselves record highs since the poll began asking the question in early 2013 following the Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting in Newtown, Conn.

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The Quinnipiac poll conducted in November came after a mass shooting at First Baptist Church in Sutherland Springs, Texas.

The national debate over gun control was reignited last week after a gunman opened fire at a high school in Parkland, Fla., killing 17 people and injuring more than a dozen others.

The suspect, Nikolas Cruz, was able to purchase an AR-15 rifle last year despite the FBI having received red flags and warnings about the teenager. Democrats and gun control advocates have called for tighter gun control laws in response to the shooting. 

The latest Quinnipiac poll was conducted Feb. 16–19 among 1,249 voters across the country and has a margin of error of 3.4 percentage points.