Winthrop Poll: S.C. overwhelmingly supports background checks for guns

One gun control effort could find traction in South Carolina, including support from Republicans, a new poll says.

Eighty percent of South Carolinians polled say they would support legislation requiring that background checks be completed before a would-be gun buyer can take a firearm home, according to a new Winthrop Poll question, asked exclusively for The State newspaper.

The poll surveyed 963 S.C. residents from Sept. 20-27. It has a margin of error of plus or minus 3.2 percentage points.

Responses were roughly the same regardless of political party. Eighty percent of Republicans and 83 percent of Democrats agreed with the gun control measure.

The results suggest the proposal is not one Second Amendment advocates would see as a threat, said Winthrop Poll director Scott Huffmon.

Instead, South Carolinians see it as “simply enforcing the intention of an existing law,” Huffmon said. “I would hazard to guess that most people had no idea that the background check did not have to be completed before you got a gun.”

The results could bode well for lawmakers hoping to make gun control legislation a top priority in the State House when they return in January.

“It shows that the people of South Carolina are in favor of a reasonable approach to curbing what is a clear, upward tick in gun violence,” said state Sen. Marlon Kimpson.

The Charleston Democrat plans to introduce several gun control bills in in January, including one that would require state and federal background checks to be completed before gun purchases.

“Selling a gun before a background check is completed defies the purpose of having a background check,” Kimpson said.

Kimpson’s proposal is in response to the slaying of nine blacks at a Charleston church in June.

Dylann Roof, the alleged Charleston shooter, was able to buy a gun before a background check was complete because of the three-day waiting period rule and errors in the federal background-checking system.

President Barack Obama said Thursday Americans have “become numb” to mass shootings.

State Sen. Chip Campsen, R-Charleston, an avid sportsman and Second Amendment defender, said he agreed that, ideally, a background check always should be completed before a gun purchase.

But the issue is more complicated than the poll suggests, he said.

Campsen said he wonders whether those surveyed considered the danger that lies in lifting the federal government’s deadline for allowing gun purchases without completed background checks.

“If you don't have some time limit, you could deprive a person of owning a gun,” he said, adding, “Sane, law-abiding people make up the vast majority of gun purchases.”

Campsen also questioned whether gun laws actually stop criminals.

This story was originally published October 2, 2015 at 10:57 PM with the headline "Winthrop Poll: S.C. overwhelmingly supports background checks for guns."