DENVER | Most Colorado voters oppose recall efforts against two Democratic legislators who supported stricter gun laws, but a majority of voters disagree with the new legislation and don’t believe tougher restrictions would’ve prevented mass shootings, according to a poll released Thursday.
The Quinnipiac University poll showed that 54 percent of voters don’t think Senate President John Morse should be recalled, and 52 percent oppose the recall of Sen. Angela Giron. But the poll is statewide, not specific to their districts — Colorado Springs for Morse and Pueblo for Giron.
Colorado Democrats this session passed a package of new gun laws without Republican support, including limits on ammunition magazines and an expansion of background checks to include private and online firearm sales. The laws were a response to mass shootings last year.
By a margin of 54-40, Colorado voters opposed the new laws. However, registered Democrats were more supportive of the legislation than Republicans, the poll found. Seventy-eight percent of Democrats participating in the poll support the gun laws, while 89 percent of Republicans oppose them.
“Colorado voters oppose the state’s stricter new gun control laws, but they don’t want to recall State Senate President John Morse or Sen. Angela Giron because they supported these laws,” said Tim Malloy, assistant director of the Quinnipiac University Polling Institute. “Philosophically, voters don’t want a recall election every time they disagree with a legislator.”
Most voters polled, 60 percent, said people should wait for regular elections to decide whether to retain a lawmaker they disagree with, instead of conducting a recall.
The poll of 1,184 registered voters was taken from Aug. 15-21 and has a margin of error of plus or minus 2.9 percentage points. The poll was conducted through live interviews by cellphones and land lines.
Voters were more supportive of the expansion of background checks, with 82 percent saying they were in favor. But the magazine limit was divisive, with 49 percent in support and 48 in opposition. Also, 53 percent of voters thought the new gun laws went too far.
Additionally, 68 percent of voters say they don’t think more background checks or magazine restrictions could have prevented the mass shootings at Columbine High School in 1999 and the suburban Denver movie theater shootings last summer.
County sheriffs are suing the state in an attempt to overturn the magazine limits and expansion of background checks.
The recall elections are set for Sept. 10.
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Read the poll: https://goo.gl/3vRtlt
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Anyone who has knowledge of polls, knows that the wording of questions, and in this case, voice inflection, can influence the response. Additionally, if anyone called me with such a poll, I would hang up thinking that any response may be used against me in some venue.
People, please no not take much value from a poll.
I feel recalls are very justified when elected officials stop representing their districts and go out on personal projects. That is what it looks like to me as to what happened with Senators Morse and Giron. The recalls are not just because of the senators votes for gun control. Senators are elected to represent the people who elected them – not to vote their own opinions. This is an error that too many politicians Make. They are elected to represent their voter, not to vote their own opinions!!! When they stop representing their voters, they should be recalled so the voters can elect a true representative who will support the values and opinions of the voters.
I don’t believe the polls in rural settings and with other responsible Coloradans would agree with what you say here.
I do not participate in polls, take robo or unknown calls, or respect one party rule, regardless of which party has that power. Remove elected officials before they can do more damage, when they ignore their constituents. So polls have no significance for me. I vote on past records, not promises, and this has been true for over 60 years of voting consistently. I do my own research.