Two-thirds of Americans back an assault weapons ban, polls say

Two-thirds of Americans support a ban on assault weapons and semi-automatic weapons, according to a national Fox News poll, taken after 31 people were killed in massacres at a Walmart in El Paso, Texas, and outside a Dayton, Ohio, bar.

The support for an assault weapons ban is 7 points up from a similar poll taken in March of 2018, a month after the Parkland, Florida, school shooting left 17 dead.

The survey by Fox News found that 90% of Americans, including an identical percentage of Democrats and Republicans, support comprehensive criminal background checks on those purchasing firearms. Just 7% of those polled were opposed.

The figures were echoed by a newly published Politico/Morning Consult survey, which pegged support for an assault weapons ban at 70%, with 91% supporting criminal background checks.

The U.S. House of Representatives, under Democratic control, has passed two pieces of background check legislation. But the bills have languished in the Republican-controlled Senate under GOP Majority Leader Mitch McConnell. The White House denounced the legislation.

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