The cause of gun safety in Washington State continues to gain momentum, with an increasing percentage of likely voters in Washington State favor banning assault weapons, new research from the Northwest Progressive Institute shows.
Our polling has previously found that a majority of Washingtonians strongly support an assault weapons ban. We unveiled this finding with Attorney General Bob Ferguson, state lawmakers, and the Alliance for Gun Responsibility last June after the tragedy in Uvalde. A few weeks later, it was corroborated by SurveyUSA and its partners (The Seattle Times, KING5, UW, and WSU).
Ahead of an expected vote in the House of Representatives to finally ban assault weapons, we decided to check in with the public and get fresh numbers.
In our winter 2023 survey, which just returned from the field a few hours ago, 58% of respondents told us they supported banning assault weapons, while 40% said they were opposed and 3% said they were not sure. A majority of likely voters (51% in this survey) continue to be strongly supportive.
The question we asked was identical to the one in our June 2022 survey:
QUESTION: Do you strongly support, somewhat support, somewhat oppose, or strongly oppose banning the sale, transport, manufacture, or import of military-style assault weapons like the AR-15 rifle in Washington State?
ANSWERS:
- Support: 58%
- Strongly support: 51%
- Somewhat support: 7%
- Oppose: 40%
- Somewhat oppose: 8%
- Strongly oppose: 32%
- Not sure: 3%
Our survey of 874 likely 2024 Washington State voters was in the field from Tuesday, March 7th through today, Wednesday, March 8th, 2023.
The poll utilizes a blended methodology, with automated phone calls to landlines (50%) and online answers from cell phone only respondents (50%).
It was conducted by Public Policy Polling for the Northwest Progressive Institute, and has a margin of error of +/- 3.3% at the 95% confidence interval.
Compared to June, total support has increased from 56% to 58%, and total opposition has increased from 38% to 40%. Correspondingly, the percentage of voters who aren’t sure has been halved, dropping from 6% to 3%.
All age groups remain supportive of banning assault weapons. In this survey, the intensity of support was strongest among seniors — voters older than sixty-five, rather than the youngest voters. 59% of them strongly support a ban and another 6% are somewhat supportive, for a total of 65%. Young voters do remain enthusiastic, thought not quite to the extent as in our survey back in June. 64% of those ages eighteen to twenty-nine expressed support in this poll.
What really impressed us was that support has gone up with independent and Republican voters. 29% of Republican voters expressed support for a ban, up from 21% last June, and 46% of independent voters expressed support, up from 44% last June. More than eight in ten Democratic voters remain supportive as well. The coalition of voters that wants to ban assault weapons is a durable one!
Multiple seasons have passed since the tragedy in Uvalde, but the rock solid support we previously found for prohibiting the sale, transport, manufacture, and import of weapons like the AR-15 has endured. Most Washingtonians want to see this happen. The Legislature must get this critical bill passed this session.
