A comprehensive statewide survey released today found an overwhelming 88% of Virginians support requiring criminal background checks on all sales at gun shows, closing a loophole in federal and state laws that allows anyone to buy guns at gun shows without a check. But the poll also found that 73% of Virginians mistakenly think such a law already exists, or don't know if it exists.

Also surveyed for the first time were attitudes of Virginia's gun owners and self-described National Rifle Association (NRA) supporters. The poll found that 84% of gun owners - and 81% of NRA supporters favor requiring criminal background checks on all gun sales at gun shows.

The survey of 500 likely Virginia voters was conducted by the polling firm Lake, Snell, Perry, and Associates October 14-16, 2001 - more than one month after the terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon. The poll has a margin of error of +/- 4.4%.

"This is a repudiation of the conventional wisdom that gun laws are anathema to law-abiding Virginians," said Jim Sollo, President of Virginians Against Handgun Violence, which commissioned the poll with The Educational Fund to Stop Gun Violence. "But the widespread uncertainty around existing gun laws points to a critical need for education on the issue."

Key Findings

Key findings from the poll included:

• 88% of Virginians favor requiring a criminal background check for all gun sales at gun shows; 74% strongly favor the measure
• 84% of gun owners - and 81% of self-described NRA supporters - favor requiring a criminal background check on all gun sales at gun shows
• 38% of Virginians mistakenly believe criminal background checks are already required for all sales at gun shows, while 35% do not know

Interestingly, 34% of Virginians would likely vote against a candidate if he or she refused to close the gun show loophole. Only 4% would likely vote against a candidate if he or she supported closing the gun show loophole, which again contradicts conventional wisdom of a strong pro-gun vote in the state. In fact, this finding is further evidence that the NRA does not have much influence beyond its core membership: the NRA claims to have 100,000 members in Virginia - a state with a total population of over seven million.

"The NRA is headquartered in Virginia, yet clearly does not speak for the vast majority - or even a significant fraction - of Virginians," said Joshua Horwitz, Executive Director of The Educational Fund to Stop Gun Violence. "Just like the rest of America, a significant number of Virginians own guns. Yet they still overwhelmingly support gun laws like closing the gun show loophole to keep guns away from criminals."

About the Gun Show Loophole

Under the Brady Law, federally licensed gun dealers must conduct criminal background checks on all gun buyers, including those at gun shows. But at least 25% of gun sellers at gun shows are unlicensed dealers, and therefore are not subject to the federal law. Federal law enforcement has blamed this "loophole" for allowing easy criminal access to guns.

Several states have closed this deadly loophole. Most recently, voters last November overwhelmingly passed two ballot initiatives to close the gun show loophole in Colorado and Oregon - two Western states with high rates of gun ownership.

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