His proposed legislation to strengthen background checks on gun buyers may have fallen short in the Senate last week, but Sen. Pat Toomey’s (R-PA) efforts were appreciated by his Pennsylvania constituents, according to a poll from Quinnipiac University released Friday.
The poll showed that 48 percent of Keystone State voters approve of the job Toomey is doing while 30 percent said they disapprove — amounting to his highest approval rating in Quinnipiac’s polling. In Quinnipiac’s poll last month, Toomey had an approval rating of 43 percent compared with 32 percent who disapproved.
Moreover, Quinnipiac’s latest poll showed big support for strengthening background checks among Pennsylvania voters. Sixty-nine percent said they “strongly support” Toomey’s measure, while another 16 percent said they “somewhat support” the proposal. A mere 12 percent said they were either “somewhat opposed” or “strongly opposed.” Sixty-eight percent of Pennsylvania voters said they reject the notion that Toomey’s proposal would unfairly target gun owners.
The legislation, which was written by Toomey and Sen. Joe Manchin (D-WV), fell short last week of the 60-vote threshold necessary to overcome a filibuster, effectively dooming the prospects for new gun laws.
But the poll also suggested that the issue of gun control isn’t necessarily a deal breaker for Pennsylvania voters. A large majority of 59 percent said that they would still vote for a candidate if they agreed with him on other issues but not gun control. And despite the support for Toomey’s proposal, his constituents are somewhat divided on his handling of gun control. Thirty-four percent said they approve of the Republican’s handling of gun control while 29 percent said they disapprove.
A poll on Wednesday showed that Sen. Kelly Ayotte (R-NH) could face a backlash from her New Hampshire constituents as a result of her opposition to the Toomey-Manchin proposal.
