This week marks four months since the Arizona legislature adjourned the 2020 legislative session without action on bipartisan legislation to keep guns out of the hands of domestic abusers, and failing to address the rise of domestic violence in Arizona amid the COVID-19 pandemic.
Instead of moving a life-saving gun safety bill forward, Republicans in the legislature prioritized and tried to push through risky legislation that would jeopardize the safety of Arizonans for a second year in a row. These bills included a policy to arm teachers and other school employees and a bill that would have created new liability for public entities that choose to prohibit firearms — both of which were ultimately defeated.
Arizonans want action on gun safety. This election, they are ready to vote for lawmakers who are committed to keeping their families and their communities safe.
Here are five polling takeaways that show Arizonans are ready for a ‘Gun Sense Majority’ in Arizona’s state legislature:
- By a greater than 8:1 margin, Arizonans want stronger gun laws (50% stronger/6% less strong).
- Overwhelming majorities of voters support specific gun violence prevention policies, including blocking domestic abusers from owning guns (89%) and requiring background checks on all gun sales (85%).
- Requiring background checks on all gun sales is the TOP issue among undecided voters by a 14-point margin.
- The majority of Arizona voters (57%) say they would never vote for a candidate who opposes background checks on all gun sales, including 58% of independent voters, 50% of Republican women, and 59% of Maricopa County voters.
- Nearly 60% of Arizona voters are less likely to vote for a candidate who opposes a red flag law.
On Monday, Everytown announced a $1.6 million spend in digital ads and direct mailers to flip the Arizona legislature to a gun sense majority. The spend was part of Everytown’s commitment to “Gun Sense Majority: Arizona” — a significant financial and grassroots effort dedicated to electing gun sense candidates up and down the ballot. Students Demand Action also launched Arizona’s new Students Demand Action Virtual Field Office in April, an office focused on registering young voters virtually.
Statistics about gun violence in Arizona are available here, and information on how Arizona’s gun laws compare to other states’ overall is available here.
