Poll: Young adults back bids to curb gun violence

CHICAGO—LaShun Roy supports a ban on semi-automatic weapons and more comprehensive background checks.

But the 21-year-old gun owner from rural Texas doesn’t consider gun-control measures a top priority in this year’s elections.

For Keionna Cottrell, a 24-yearold who lives on Chicago’s South Side and whose brother was shot and killed this year in another Illinois city, few things are more important than limiting access to guns.

“So many people are dying here because there is no control of the weapons out on our streets,” said Cottrell.

“Young men ... have real military guns and they’re not scared to use them.”

Although their lives and experiences differ, the young women’s shared support for additional policies to curb gun violence reflect the feelings of many Americans between the ages of 18 and 30, regardless of their backgrounds, according to a new GenForward poll.

About nine in 10 young adults say they support criminal background checks for all gun sales, a level of support that remains consistent across racial and ethnic groups.

Stiffer penalties for violating existing gun laws are supported by nine in 10 young adults, including about nine in 10 whites, AsianAmericans and Latinos, as well as eight in 10 African-Americans.

Fifty-seven percent of young Americans support a ban on semiautomatic weapons, with support especially high — 74 percent — among Asian-Americans.

GenForward is a survey by the Black Youth Project at the University of Chicago with the AP-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research. (AP)