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Our only agenda is to publish the truth so you can be an informed participant in democracy. We need your help. More Info ### I would like to contribute One Time Monthly Yearly Join Now ![](\\" ![](\\" Chris Murphy stated on July 27, 2016 in a speech at the Democratic National Convention in Philadelphia: \"Ninety percent of Americans want our background check system strengthened and expanded to cover more gun sales.\" ![\\"true\\"](\\" true/3d4df195c595a07e3fd69b5e4aab3e3c.jpg.\\") ![\\"true\\"](\\" true.jpg\\") * National * Polls and Public Opinion * Guns * Chris Murphy ![\\"Sen.](\\" Sen. Chris Murphy, D-Conn., speaks during the third day of the Democratic National Convention in Philadelphia, PA. (AP) ![\\"Lauren](\\" By Lauren Carroll July 28, 2016 # At DNC, Sen. Chris Murphy says 90% of Americans want expanded background checks for gun purchases Democrats made a forceful argument for stricter gun control on the third night of the Democratic National Convention in Philadelphia. One speaker, Sen. Chris Murphy of Connecticut, called for expanded background checks in particular. \"Listen, 90 percent of Americans want our background check system strengthened and expanded to cover more gun sales so that dangerous weapons don\'t fall into the wrong hands,\" Murphy said. Under current law, background checks are required in sales by federally licensed gun dealers, but the checks are not required for gun sales by private sellers. National polls conducted over the past year consistently show that around 90 percent of Americans support some sort of expanded background checks for gun purchases. Here are a few examples of recent polls about background checks: Quinnipiac University poll, conducted June 21-27, 2016: \"Do you support or oppose requiring background checks for all gun buyers?\" Support: 93 percent. Oppose: 6 percent. Not sure: 1 percent. CNN/ORC poll, conducted June 16-19, 2016: Would you favor or oppose \"a background check on anyone attempting to purchase a gun in order to determine whether the prospective buyer has been convicted of a felony\"? Favor: 92 percent. Oppose: 8 percent. CBS News poll, conducted June 13-14, 2016: \"Do you favor or oppose a federal law requiring background checks on all potential gun buyers?\" Favor: 89 percent. Oppose: 8 percent. Unsure/no answer: 2 percent. Public Policy Polling survey, conducted March 24-26, 2016: \"Do you support or oppose requiring a criminal background check of every person who wants to buy a firearm?\" Support: 84 percent. Oppose: 10 percent. Not sure: 6 percent. Quinnipiac University poll, conducted Dec. 16-20, 2015: \"Would you support or oppose a law requiring background checks on people buying guns at gun shows or online?\" Support: 89 percent. Oppose: 9 percent. Unsure/no answer: 1 percent. CBS/New York Times poll, conducted Oct. 21-25, 2015: \"Do you favor or oppose a federal law requiring background checks on all potential gun buyers?\" Favor: 92 percent. Oppose: 7 percent. Unsure/no answer: 1 percent. Gallup poll, conducted Oct. 7-11, 2015: \"Would you favor or oppose a law which would require universal background checks for all gun purchases in the U.S. using a centralized database across all 50 states?\" Favor: 86 percent. Oppose: 12 percent. Unsure: 2 percent. #### Featured Fact-check ![](\\" ![](\\" Donald Trump stated on August 23, 2024 in a speech in Las Vegas “Kamala cast the tiebreaking vote to hire 87,000 new IRS agents to go after your tip income.” ![\\"true\\"](\\" false/33efdb6633e5e2fdc2d4e2f63383a1e0.jpg.\\") ![\\"false\\"](\\" false.jpg\\") By Amy Sherman • August 28, 2024 Quinnipiac University poll, conducted Sept. 17-21, 2015: \"Do you support or oppose requiring background checks for all gun buyers?\" Support: 93 percent. Oppose: 6 percent. Unsure/no answer: 1 percent. Pew Research Center poll, conducted July 14-20, 2015: Do you favor or oppose \"making private gun sales and sales at gun shows subject to background checks?\" Favor: 85 percent. Oppose: 13 percent. Unsure/refused: 2 percent. Pew found that support for background checks spans all partisan and demographic groups, and it is also favored by a majority of households that own guns and those that do not. \"At the collective level, we know that Americans are in favor of the government instituting new checks on the ability to buy guns, which theoretically would prevent those who have some type of official negative record on file from buying them,\" wrote Gallup editor-in-chief Frank Newport in June. \"Americans have mixed feelings as to how effective they think these background check laws would be but overwhelmingly are willing to go along with them.\" Some gun rights advocates have taken issue with this statistic for reasons such as the survey questions referring to the general idea of background checks rather than specific legislation. For example, in 2013, polls found that 90 percent of Americans supported expanded background checks. However, when Congress failed to pass a popular bill that would have increased background checks, 47 percent were disappointed or angry that it failed, while some 39 percent were relieved or very happy, according to a Washington Post/Pew Research Center poll. This highlights an odd discrepancy: While people overwhelmingly support specific gun policy ideas, like universal background checks and banning suspected terrorists from buying guns, the support is not as robust when it comes to actually expanding gun control. The October CBS/New York Times poll that found 92 percent support for expanded background checks also shows 46 percent of Americans think laws covering gun sales should be either made less strict or stay the same. Just 51 percent said the laws should be made more strict. \"People don\'t seem to like the idea of ‘gun control,’ but they still want the government to do more to keep guns out of the hands of criminals and the mentally ill,\" said Adam Winkler, a law professor at the University of California Los Angeles and author of Gunfight: The Battle over the Right to Bear Arms in America, in a prior interview with PolitiFact. Our ruling Murphy said, \"90 percent of Americans want our background check system strengthened and expanded to cover more gun sales.\" Every national poll we could find that was conducted over the past year supports this statistic. We rate Murphy’s claim True. #### Read About Our Process The Principles of the Truth-O-Meter ### Our Sources PolitiFact, \"Laura Ingraham wrongly says claim that 90% support for gun background checks has been debunked,\" Jan. 3, 2016 PollingReport.com, Guns, accessed Jan. 3, 2016 PolitiFact Texas, \"Jeremy Bird says 90 percent of Americans want mandatory background checks for all gun purchases,\" Oct. 5, 2015 Email interview, Murphy spokeswoman Laura Maloney, July 27, 2016 ## Browse the Truth-O-Meter ### More by Lauren Carroll ![](\\" ![](\\" Casey Cagle stated on June 22, 2017 in a meeting with small business owners: Says of Georgia, \"for four years in a row, we are the No. 1 state to do business in.\" ![\\"half-true\\"](\\" th.jpg\\") ![\\"half-true\\"](\\" true.jpg\\") By Lauren Carroll • July 19, 2017 ![](\\" ![](\\" Donald Trump stated on July 6, 2017 in a press conference in Poland: Says Barack Obama found out about Russia \"in August. Now, the election was in November. That\'s a lot of time. He did nothing about it.\" ![\\"barely-true\\"](\\" th.jpg\\") ![\\"barely-true\\"](\\" barely-true.jpg\\") By Lauren Carroll • July 10, 2017 ![](\\" ![](\\" Marc Short stated on July 2, 2017 in an episode of \"Fox News Sunday\": 7 million people the Congressional Budget Office says won\'t have health insurance coverage under the Senate health care bill \"don\'t exist.\" ![\\"half-true\\"](\\" th.jpg\\") ![\\"half-true\\"](\\" true.jpg\\") By Lauren Carroll • July 5, 2017 ![](\\" ![](\\" Jeff Sessions stated on June 13, 2017 in a congressional hearing: \"It\'s a longstanding policy of the Department of Justice not to comment on conversations that the attorney general has had with the president of the United States.\" ![\\"half-true\\"](\\" th.jpg\\") ![\\"half-true\\"](\\" true.jpg\\") By Lauren Carroll • June 14, 2017 ![](\\" ![](\\" Kimberley Strassel stated on May 28, 2017 in \"Meet the Press\" on NBC: In 2008, \"candidate Obama, he\'s not even president-elect, sends William Miller over to Iran to establish a back channel and let the Iranians know that should he win the election, they will have friendlier terms.\" ![\\"false\\"](\\" ![\\"false\\"](\\" By Lauren Carroll • June 2, 2017 ![](\\" ![](\\" Uspoln Website stated on May 23, 2017 in an online article: \"Rubio: ‘Rape victims should be in custody if there is suspicion that they’re planning abortion.’ \" ![\\"pants-fire\\"](\\" th.jpg\\") ![\\"pants-fire\\"](\\" pants-fire.jpg\\") By Lauren Carroll • June 1, 2017 ![](\\" ![](\\" Newt Gingrich stated on May 21, 2017 in an episode of \"Fox and Friends\": Democratic National Committee staffer Seth Rich \"apparently was assassinated at 4 in the morning, having given WikiLeaks something like 53,000 emails and 17,000 attachments. ... It turns out, it wasn’t the Russians.\" ![\\"pants-fire\\"](\\" th.jpg\\") ![\\"pants-fire\\"](\\" pants-fire.jpg\\") By Lauren Carroll • May 23, 2017 ![](\\" ![](\\" Rush Limbaugh stated on May 17, 2017 in an episode of the \"Rush Limbaugh Show\": \"What Trump is alleged to have done is actually no different than what Barack Obama did in April last year when he made it known that he didn’t want Hillary prosecuted.\" ![\\"barely-true\\"](\\" th.jpg\\") ![\\"barely-true\\"](\\" barely-true.jpg\\") By Lauren Carroll • May 18, 2017 ![](\\" ![](\\" Richard Blumenthal stated on May 9, 2017 in a press conference: \"What does Trumpcare do? Yank tax credits away from veterans unlike any other American.\" ![\\"half-true\\"](\\" th.jpg\\") ![\\"half-true\\"](\\" true.jpg\\") By Lauren Carroll • May 15, 2017 ![](\\" ![](\\" Bloggers stated on May 4, 2017 in blog headlines: Under the House Republican health plan, sexual assault is a pre-existing condition. ![\\"barely-true\\"](\\" th.jpg\\") ![\\"barely-true\\"](\\" barely-true.jpg\\") By Lauren Carroll • May 5, 2017 ![](\\" ![](\\" Ivanka Trump stated on May 2, 2017 in her book \"Women Who Work\": \"40 percent of American households have female primary breadwinners.\" ![\\"mostly-true\\"](\\" th.jpg\\") ![\\"mostly-true\\"](\\" mostly-true.jpg\\") By Lauren Carroll • May 3, 2017 ![](\\" ![](\\" Donald Trump stated on April 30, 2017 in an interview on CBS: \"General Flynn got his clearance from the Obama administration.\" ![\\"true\\"](\\" ![\\"true\\"](\\" By Lauren Carroll • May 2, 2017 ![](\\" ![](\\" Donald Trump stated on April 28, 2017 in the National Rifle Association Annual Meeting: \"For the first time in the modern political era, we have confirmed a new justice in the first 100 days.\" ![\\"mostly-true\\"](\\" th.jpg\\") ![\\"mostly-true\\"](\\" mostly-true.jpg\\") By Lauren Carroll • April 28, 2017 ![](\\" ![](\\" Sean Spicer stated on April 25, 2017 in the daily White House press briefing: Trump has \"worked with Congress to pass more legislation in his first 100 days than any president since Truman.\" ![\\"mostly-true\\"](\\" th.jpg\\") ![\\"mostly-true\\"](\\" mostly-true.jpg\\") By Lauren Carroll • April 27, 2017 ![](\\" ![](\\" Donald Trump stated on April 26, 2017 in a tweet: The Ninth Circuit has an overturned record \"close to 80%.\" ![\\"half-true\\"](\\" th.jpg\\") ![\\"half-true\\"](\\" true.jpg\\") By Lauren Carroll • April 26, 2017 ### At DNC, Sen. Chris Murphy says 90% of Americans want expanded background checks for gun purchases * ![](\\" ![](\\" Facebook posts stated on September 16, 2024 in a Facebook post: “Country Music Television (CMT) has announced a permanent boycott of Taylor Swift.” ![\\"false\\"](\\" ![\\"false\\"](\\" By Ciara O\'Rourke • September 18, 2024 * ![](\\" ![](\\" Viral image stated on September 11, 2024 in a Facebook post: “Disney World officially moving to Nashville.” ![\\"false\\"](\\" ![\\"false\\"](\\" By Ciara O\'Rourke • September 18, 2024 * ![](\\" ![](\\" Bernie Moreno stated on September 9, 2024 in an Instagram post: “Illegal” Haitians in Springfield, Ohio, are “reportedly killing and eating pets.” ![\\"pants-fire\\"](\\" th.jpg\\") ![\\"pants-fire\\"](\\" pants-fire.jpg\\") By Seth A. 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Studies warn this will lead to cuts in your Social Security benefits.\" ![\\"false\\"](\\" ![\\"false\\"](\\" By Maria Ramirez Uribe • September 18, 2024 * ![](\\" ![](\\" Donald Trump stated on September 13, 2024 in a rally in Las Vegas: Vice President Kamala Harris is “talking about bringing back the draft.” ![\\"pants-fire\\"](\\" th.jpg\\") ![\\"pants-fire\\"](\\" pants-fire.jpg\\") By Louis Jacobson • September 18, 2024 * ![](\\" ![](\\" Facebook posts stated on September 15, 2024 in una publicación en Facebook: \"ABC elimina a los moderadores del debate David Muir y Linsey Davis\". ![\\"pants-fire\\"](\\" th.jpg\\") ![\\"pants-fire\\"](\\" pants-fire.jpg\\") By Sofia Ahmed • September 18, 2024 Load more ### Support independent fact-checking. Become a member! In a world of wild talk and fake news, help us stand up for the facts. 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Ninety percent of Americans want our background check system strengthened and expanded to cover more gun sales