Overwhelming majorities of people in Virginia, New York, and New Jersey support establishing a national gun registry, despite the wide variations of gun ownership and laws in those states, a new poll has found.
According to a Roanoke/Rutgers-Eagleton/Siena College survey conducted Feb. 22-28, 68 percent of New Yorkers support a national gun registry, as do 74 percent of New Jersey residents, and 63 percent of Virginians.
The survey of 2,477 people included roughly equal numbers of residents from each state.
"Given a huge disparity in gun ownership rates — half in Virginia, compared to 1 in 7 in the two Northern states — the much smaller differences on support for a national gun registry are surprising," Harry Wilson, director of Roanoke's Institute for Policy ad Opinion Research, said in a statement.
"Virginians are less supportive of stricter gun laws, but those differences are relatively small. New York and New Jersey have much tougher restrictions on guns and gun owners; perhaps those differences are a factor in shaping opinion."
The National Rifle Association appears to have a different view on the issue than the majority of respondents.
"The 5 million NRA members are in sync with every reasonable law-abiding American who opposes gun registries and wants law-enforcement resources used to ensure existing gun laws are enforced — and those who break these laws are arrested, prosecuted and punished," NRA spokesman Andrew Arulanandam told The Washington Times.
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