SACRAMENTO — A gun control initiative placed on the November ballot by Lt. Gov. Gavin Newsom in the wake of several high-profile mass shootings is leading by a 2-to-1 ratio with strong support from liberals who live on the coast, a new poll shows.
Proposition 63 would force ammunition purchasers to undergo background checks and outlaw possession of high-capacity ammunition magazines. It would do little to impact a package of legislation that Gov. Jerry Brown signed in July that already tightens rules for firearms owners. But that doesn’t seem to matter to voters.
The new Field/IGS Poll found 60 percent of likely voters surveyed the week of Sept. 7 support the initiative while 30 percent say they’re opposed. Only 10 percent reported being undecided. The poll also shows a similar share of likely voters favor Proposition 64, which would legalize marijuana for adult use. A poll on Wednesday from the Public Policy Institute of California also showed 60 percent of likely voters support legalizing marijuana.
Supporters of the gun control initiative applauded the poll results and said they’re proof of what Newsom has been saying since he launched the Safety for All campaign late last year: that voters deserve a chance to take on the gun lobby and endorse sensible rules that will make Californians safer. Last week, a USC Dornsife/Los Angeles Times poll found 64 percent of voters supported the measure.
“People are ready to stand up to the National Rifle Association and take bold action to reduce gun violence,” said Dan Newman, a spokesman for the Safety for All campaign.
Gun rights advocates dismissed the poll results and warned supporters not to get too comfortable, noting that turnout this season will be unusually tough to predict and that a ballot as crowded as the one voters must navigate in November could yield some surprises.
“The Stop 63 community will show up to stop this radical measure come rain or come shine because they know that it does nothing to stop crime and only hurts hard-working, law-abiding Californians,” said Craig DeLuz, a spokesman for the Firearms Policy Coalition, a gun advocacy group.
Most of Proposition 63’s support comes from Democrats, liberals and coastal county voters, the poll found. But while it shows two-thirds of GOP voters oppose the measure, it also reveals that a little more than half of residents who live in the state’s conservative inland counties back it.
Along with requiring background checks for bullet sales and banning possession of high-capacity ammunition magazines, Proposition 63 would also force licensed vendors to report ammunition theft within 48 hours, make theft of a firearm a felony and create a new court process to ensure that firearms are surrendered by people upon conviction of serious crimes.
Proposition 63: Gun control initiative
Yes: 60 percent
No: 30 percent
Undecided: 10 percent
Proposition 64: Legalize marijuana
Yes: 60 percent
No: 31 percent
Undecided: 9 percent
Source: Field-IGS online survey of 483 likely voters from Sept. 7-13.
