Gun dealers also support background checks. Who's left?

We already know that a majority of Democrats, independents and even a substantial majority of Republicans are in favor of expanded background checks. We also already know that card-carrying NRA-members and Tea Partiers think background checks are a good idea. But thanks to the diligent, independent research done by the social scientists over at the University of California at Davis's Violence Prevention Research Program, we can add another important constituency to the pro-expanded background checks camp: gun dealers. The people who would have to actually carry out those background checks. The majority of the guys and gals around the country who make their living selling guns – gun dealers, pawnbrokers and gunsmiths – are in favor of more checks.

Here is what the NRA does not want you to know: 55.4% of gun dealers surveyed support comprehensive background check requirements and 37.5% strongly favor them. (pdf)

What is particularly amazing about this study is that it has never been done before. Independent researchers have never asked the actual people who would have to do the checking what they think of expanding background checks. So in 2011 the researchers at UC Davis decided that they would.

For Subscribers

FOR SUBSCRIBERSAbdul El-Sayed tries to woo MAHA voters as Democrats seek inroads with RFK’s supporters

FOR SUBSCRIBERSKratom-like substances are popping up in a typically benign supplement

FOR SUBSCRIBERSGOP super PAC increases its spending for Sen. Jon Husted in tough Ohio race

FOR SUBSCRIBERSRecords reveal tumultuous marriage between slain New York Times executive and wife

FOR SUBSCRIBERSFrom clean energy warrior to ‘wall of shame,’ James Talarico reverses on a fossil fuel money pledge

FOR SUBSCRIBERSCongressional staff planned official trip with luxury stops in Italy and France weeks before election

FOR SUBSCRIBERSA harrowing ordeal aboard an Israel-bound plane

FOR SUBSCRIBERSOpenAI CEO Sam Altman to skip congressional hearing on rogue AI agents

FOR SUBSCRIBERSKey DOJ lawyers departed Trump ‘grand conspiracy’ probe amid pressure to produce, source says

FOR SUBSCRIBERSTrump’s new AI chatbot often links to a site launched under Clinton 26 years ago

FOR SUBSCRIBERSAt MAHA summit, industry CEOs the movement once vilified take the stage

FOR SUBSCRIBERSThis Paralympian has two goals: Win medals and give away $500,000 to her teammates

FOR SUBSCRIBERSCornell rape allegation spotlights stringent New York state laws that have long drawn criticism

FOR SUBSCRIBERSThe debate over AI’s future rages on both coasts

FOR SUBSCRIBERSDecades-old march dispute reignites in Northern Ireland, threatening political crisis

They got a hold of a FBI database of 55,020 licensed gun retailers. Then they whittled that list down to dealers who sell 50 or more firearms a year, and from there they took a random sample of 1,601 dealers across 43 states (data was not available for 7 states). That group got the survey – by mail! After they crunched the data they found that most people who got back with them supported checks.

For Subscribers

FOR SUBSCRIBERSAbdul El-Sayed tries to woo MAHA voters as Democrats seek inroads with RFK’s supporters

FOR SUBSCRIBERSKratom-like substances are popping up in a typically benign supplement

FOR SUBSCRIBERSGOP super PAC increases its spending for Sen. Jon Husted in tough Ohio race

FOR SUBSCRIBERSRecords reveal tumultuous marriage between slain New York Times executive and wife

FOR SUBSCRIBERSFrom clean energy warrior to ‘wall of shame,’ James Talarico reverses on a fossil fuel money pledge

FOR SUBSCRIBERSCongressional staff planned official trip with luxury stops in Italy and France weeks before election

FOR SUBSCRIBERSA harrowing ordeal aboard an Israel-bound plane

FOR SUBSCRIBERSOpenAI CEO Sam Altman to skip congressional hearing on rogue AI agents

FOR SUBSCRIBERSKey DOJ lawyers departed Trump ‘grand conspiracy’ probe amid pressure to produce, source says

FOR SUBSCRIBERSTrump’s new AI chatbot often links to a site launched under Clinton 26 years ago

FOR SUBSCRIBERSAt MAHA summit, industry CEOs the movement once vilified take the stage

FOR SUBSCRIBERSThis Paralympian has two goals: Win medals and give away $500,000 to her teammates

FOR SUBSCRIBERSCornell rape allegation spotlights stringent New York state laws that have long drawn criticism

FOR SUBSCRIBERSThe debate over AI’s future rages on both coasts

FOR SUBSCRIBERSDecades-old march dispute reignites in Northern Ireland, threatening political crisis

What is also pretty amazing is that they did this survey before our most recent mass shootings – before Aurora, before Oak Creek, before Newton and before the Washington Navy Yard shooting.

Learn more about this study and look out for its publication soon in the Journal of Urban Health.