Tennesseans Have Mixed Emotions About Need For More Gun Laws, Poll Finds

Tennesseans have mixed feelings about whether the state needs tougher gun laws, according to a new poll from Vanderbilt University.

The majority of Tennesseans — 54 percent — told researchers that gun laws should stay the same as they are now. That compared to 40 percent who said gun sales should be made harder.

But once pollsters placed some specific ideas before them, Tennesseans actually said they favor tougher measures.

Background checks for private sales and at gun shows was supported by 84 percent of Tennesseans. That same portion said they want laws to keep people with mental illnesses from buying guns.

Vanderbilt political scientist Josh Clinton said both proposals had support from Democrats and Republicans.

“Even though there’s an overall reaction against having gun control, when you ask about specific provisions of what that gun control might look like, you find far more support for it.”

Even a majority of Tea Party supporters said they would favor some new gun control measures. Eighty percent of self-identified Tea Party members said they believe sales to people with mental illnesses should be barred. Seventy-two percent favored background checks for private sales and at gun shows.

A slight majority of Tennesseans also favored a ban on “assault-style weapons,” while 62 percent said they would support a federal database to track all gun sales.

But backing on those proposals was split much more starkly. Democrats back a ban on semiautomatic weapons by a nearly three-to-one margin. But majorities of Republicans, independents and Tea Party members do not support such a ban.

Similarly, the federal database was supported by 85 percent of Democrats. Meanwhile, Republicans and independents were evenly divided. Only one in three Tea Party members backs federal tracking of gun sales.

The poll of 1,013 registered voters in Tennessee was conducted by landline and cell phone from Nov. 11 to Nov. 23. Researchers noted the survey took place before the recent shootings in Colorado Springs, Colo., and San Bernardino, Calif., but the terrorist attacks in Paris happened during the polling time.

More information on the poll, including the questions themselves, can be found
here.