Monday, December 16, 2019

State of the Commonwealth: Wason Center Survey (Gun Control element)


This morning a State of the Commonwealth 2020 Survey Report was released  by the Judy Ford Wason Center for Public Policy at Christopher Newport University in Newport News, Virginia. The Center was established in 2007 and has been a vital resource regarding Virginia public policy.

The Center routinely releases public survey's regarding policies impacting Virginians as well as political races throughout the Commonwealth.

From the Center's report released this morning:

Gun control. One of the central issues in the November elections was gun control, and Virginia voters are firmly in support of further restrictions. The most widely supported restriction is making private gun sales and sales at gun shows subject to background checks (Q12A), with 86% of voters saying they support or strongly support that measure. Three-fourths (76%) of voters oppose or strongly oppose allowing a person who legally owns a gun to conceal carry that weapon without a permit (Q12C), while 73% say they support a “red flag” law allowing a family member or the police to seek a court order to temporarily take guns (Q12D) from legal gun owners judged to be a threat to harm themselves or others. While a majority of 54% of voters support a ban on assault-style weapons, this measure has the highest opposition, with 42% saying they oppose or strongly oppose such a ban (Q12B




Other Summary Highlights of the Judy Ford Wason Center survey:
-Voters strongly support requiring background checks on all gun sales (86%-13%) and passing a ‘red flag’ law (73%-23%); a slight majority (54%-44%) support banning assault-style weapons.
-Voters strongly back the Equal Rights Amendment (80%-13%).
-A slight majority oppose giving localities authority to remove or alter Confederate monuments (51%-44%).
-Voters strongly support decriminalizing possession of small amounts of marijuana (83%-14%).
-Voters strongly support raising the minimum wage (72%-28%)-
-Voters strongly support automatic voter registration (64%-31%) and no-excuse absentee voting (74%-23%).
-Voters strongly support passage of the redistricting reform constitutional amendment (70%-15%).

Dr.Quentin Kidd, Director Judy Ford Wason Center for Public Policy
“This survey suggests there’s pent-up demand among voters for a lot of the Democrats’ policy agenda” 
There’s pent-up demand in the Democrats’ caucus, too, and it will be revealing to see what legislation the new majority prioritizes now that they’re in power.”

The Center will release the data metrics of the polling and survey in the coming weeks. The Center's survey appears to support the will of Progressives in Richmond to fundamentally change Virginia.

The Center's survey illustrates just what Conservatives are up against moving into the next legislative session. Progressives believe they have a mandate from the People given they control the "trifecta" in Richmond; Governorship, Senate and House of Delegates.

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