Poll: Dems, GOP split on Orlando’s cause

Democrats and Republicans differ wildly on what caused Sunday’s mass shooting in Orlando, according to a new poll.

The Gallup survey released Friday said most Democrats blame domestic gun violence, while most Republicans condemn Islamic terrorism.

{mosads}Pollsters added that independents, meanwhile, are nearly evenly split on which of those causes led to the worst mass shooting in U.S. history.

Friday’s results found 79 percent of Republicans blame Islamic terrorism, with 16 percent picking domestic gun violence and 6 percent picking both equally.

Sixty percent of Democrats select domestic gun violence, while 29 percent say Islamic terrorism and 7 percent both equally.

Forty-four percent of independents choose Islamic terrorism, meanwhile, followed by 42 percent picking domestic gun violence and 9 percent saying both equally.

All three political affiliations support the banning of gun sales for people on the federal no-fly terrorist watch list, however.

Eighty-four percent of Democrats back that measure, followed by 80 percent of independents and 75 percent of Republicans.

Eighty-four percent of Democrats also back new laws restricting assault weapons sales, while 59 percent of independents and 43 percent of Republicans support that move.

Eighty-five percent of Republicans back increased U.S. airstrikes on the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria (ISIS), meanwhile, a strategy backed by 62 percent of independents and 57 percent of Democrats.

Gallup conducted its latest poll of 319 Democrats, 311 Republicans and 349 independents via telephone interviews on Tuesday and Wednesday. All three samples have a 7 percent margin of error.

Forty-nine people died and 53 more were injured when a gunman opened fire last Sunday at Pulse nightclub in Orlando. Gunman Omar Mateen, 29, allegedly praised the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria during the rampage; he died amid a shootout with responding police.