There is nothing like the topic of gun control and the Second Amendment to divide Republicans and Democrats. But on the issue of safety measures such as tighter background checks on people who want to purchase guns, both Clinton and Trump supporters apparently agree.
The Pew Research Center released data on Friday that showed an overwhelming 83% of voters favor compulsory background checks at private gun sales and gun shows.
Among Democrats, 90% support background checks, and 75% of Republicans agree, the Huffington Post reports.
There was also a general consensus that individuals with mental illness, and those who are on the government’s no-fly list and other watch lists should not be able to buy guns. 82% of Trump supporters and 83% of Clinton supporters thought mentally ill people should be prevented from owning guns, while 72% of the former and 80% of the latter believed that people on the no-fly list or terror watch lists should not be allowed to purchase guns, either.
Libertarians, on the other hand, are adamant that people on no-fly or terror watch lists should be banned from owning guns, stating that the databases are too broad.
Researchers are not surprised at the results. Pew noted that there has been increasing support for expanded background checks in the past few years.
Gun ownership, in general, was viewed as more beneficial than harmful. 58% of respondents said that owning firearms does more to protect individuals from crime than it does harm. Just 37% indicated that gun ownership was more of a public safety risk.
Apart from those specific issues, Democrats and Republicans don’t agree on much else, and the divide in opinion keeps widening.
Clinton supporters support proposals to ban high-capacity ammunition and assault weapons, while Trump supporters are firmly against them, 74% to 34%.
The biggest difference in opinion is in overall priorities, however. A whopping 91% of Republicans believe that protecting gun rights is more important than controlling gun ownership. Among Democrats, 79% said that controlling ownership holds more significance, while 19% deemed gun rights more important.
