{"id":1118,"date":"2013-03-05T17:16:17","date_gmt":"2013-03-05T23:16:17","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/peaceeconomyproject.org\/wordpress\/?p=1118"},"modified":"2013-03-05T17:16:17","modified_gmt":"2013-03-05T23:16:17","slug":"new-poll-finds-85-percent-in-missouri-favor-mandatory-background-checks-for-all-gun-buyers","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/peaceeconomyproject.org\/wordpress\/new-poll-finds-85-percent-in-missouri-favor-mandatory-background-checks-for-all-gun-buyers\/","title":{"rendered":"New poll finds 85 percent in Missouri favor mandatory background checks for all gun buyers"},"content":{"rendered":"

Progress Missouri
\nclick here for original article<\/a><\/p>\n

Survey\u00a0Released Today By Mayors Against Illegal Guns Finds Overwhelming Majority of\u00a0Missouri Residents Favor Background Checks for All Gun Buyers<\/em><\/p>\n

Polling data released today by Mayors Against Illegal Guns shows that likely voters in\u00a0Missouri overwhelmingly support expanding the gun background check system to include all gun buyers.\u00a0 The data is the first to be released from a survey conducted in more than 60 states and congressional districts by Schoen LLC for the bipartisan coalition of more than 850 U.S. mayors.<\/p>\n

That\u00a085 percent\u00a0of Missouri residents want every gun buyer to pass a criminal background check speaks volumes about the changing public mood on guns,\u201d said pollster Doug Schoen. \u201cThis margin is unlike any I\u2019ve seen on this issue, and it marks a real sea change.\u00a0 Voters want their elected officials to fight gun violence, and after Newtown, they\u2019re demanding it.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cNewtown broke our hearts.\u00a0 Two months later, it\u2019s time for Washington to hear the call coming from Missouri, and from every corner of the country, to close the loopholes in the background check system,\u201d said John Feinblatt, chief policy advisor to New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg, who co-chairs the coalition with Boston Mayor Thomas Menino. \u201cEven with major loopholes, the system blocks more than 70,000 felons and other dangerous people from buying guns every year.\u00a0 We can reform the system and save many lives \u2013 and Americans are virtually unanimous in demanding that Congress do it now.\u201d<\/p>\n

Under current federal law, licensed firearms dealers are required to conduct background checks on potential buyers.\u00a0 Around 40 percent of U.S. gun transfers are conducted by unlicensed \u201cprivate sellers\u201d who are not required to conduct a federal check,1<\/a>\u00a0however, and who often do business at gun shows and on the Internet \u2013 indicating that about 6.6 million guns are transferred in the U.S. every year with no background check for the buyer.2<\/a>\u00a0This \u201cprivate sale loophole\u201d now allows dangerous people who are already prohibited from buying guns \u2013 including felons, domestic abusers and the seriously mentally ill \u2013 to avoid a background check by simply avoiding licensed dealers.<\/p>\n

Evidence demonstrates that background checks save lives. For example, in the fourteen states that already require background checks for all gun sales:<\/p>\n