Gabby Giffords, Mark Kelly Use Democrats' Polling Firm to Show Texans Want Gun Control

Gabby Giffords and Mark Kelly’s gun control group Americans for Responsible Solutions (ARS) used one of the Democrats’ favorite polling firms, Greenberg Quinlan Rosner Research (GQRR), to show that Texans want gun control. 

The poll was conducted April 21-28 “and offered in both English and Spanish.” It  was released on June 1.

GQRR indicates the poll was conducted by asking questions, then presenting “balanced arguments on both sides of the debate over gun laws,” then asking the questions again. This allowed GQRR to show an “initial” response for those surveyed and then a “final” response after the “balanced arguments” had been presented. 

Among “all 2016 voters” those supporting current laws or wanting to make laws more lenient were at 54 percent initially, and fell to 50 percent after the “balanced arguments” were presented. Those for “stronger gun laws” were at 44 percent initially and rose to 49 percent after the arguments. 

The final tally was that gun laws should be kept as they are or scaled back by a margin of 50-49 percent. 

But the numbers were also broken down to show “Hispanics” and “Hispanic women.” ARS focused on this show “63 percent of Hispanic voters said they thought gun laws should be strengthened…after hearing arguments from both sides of the debate.” Among Hispanic women the “support for stronger gun laws” was at “75 percent.” 

The initial response for “Hispanic Women” was 54 percent, so that number jumped to 75 after “balanced arguments on both sides” were presented. 

GQRR concluded that “gun violence prevention” is a topic that can be raised in Texas without exacting a political price, and there may be a “significant upside” to talking about it “among women, moms, and Hispanic voters.”

Ironically, barring a miracle, Attorney General Greg Abbott (R) will win the November election for governor by a wide margin. A central part of his platform is the expansion of gun rights. 

Follow AWR Hawkins on Twitter @AWRHawkins  Reach him directly at awrhawkins@breitbart.com.