Poll: NJ voters back gun controls by big margins

A new poll shows New Jersey voters overwhelmingly support a broad range of gun-control measures.

The Quinnipiac University poll out Thursday also finds a bare majority of 50 to 44 percent want armed police in public schools.

The poll is the first to measure New Jerseyans’ attitudes on gun control since the Dec. 14 mass shooting at a Connecticut elementary school. New Jersey already has the nation’s 3rd toughest gun laws.

 

Poll respondents support a national ban on assault weapons and high-capacity magazines. They also back mandatory background checks for guns bought at gun shows and a ban on gun sales to people with mental illness.

The telephone survey of 1,647 registered voters was taken Jan. 15-21 and has an error margin of plus or minus 2.4 percentage points.