Poll Shows Broad Support For Stricter Gun Background Checks

MINNEAPOLIS (AP) - A new poll finds broad support in Minnesota for tighter background checks on gun purchases, but uncertainty about whether it would actually help reduce mass shootings.

A Star Tribune Minnesota Poll shows 82 percent of respondents support criminal background checks on all gun sales, including private transactions and at gun shows.

Those surveyed are far less certain about how tighter checks would affect mass shootings. Fifteen percent say it would help a lot. Forty-five percent expected not much help or none at all.

The poll also found that 53 percent of respondents either own a gun or live in a house with someone who does. The poll included 800 registered voters contacted by phone January 18-20. The margin of sampling error is plus or minus 3.5 percentage points.