COLUMBUS -- Two-thirds of likely voters want the next Ohio governor to work to ban guns such as the AR-15 assault weapon, an Enquirer / Suffolk University poll found.
Semi-automatic weapons have gained notoriety because of their use in school shootings, such as this year in Parkland, Florida, and in 2012 in Sandy Hook, Connecticut. They fire a single bullet with each pull of the trigger, but they automatically reload as long as there are rounds in the magazine.
Banning the weapons has been one goal of student activists following the Parkland shooting. It's also on the minds of people likely to vote in Ohio's gubernatorial election.
In the poll, 91 percent of Democrats and 34 percent of Republicans said they backed an assault-weapons ban. Seventy-three percent of independents agreed.
Even those half of those with guns in their home supported the ban.
The candidates for Ohio governor haven't backed efforts to prohibit semi-automatic weapons.
Republican Mike DeWine has called for improving the state's existing background check database but hasn't advocated for any new gun control laws. DeWine once had an "F" rating from the NRA for his support of gun control, such as background checks at gun shows. As Ohio attorney general, he has won over gun rights advocates. .
Democrat Richard Cordray has a history of support for gun rights. In the Democratic primary for governor, when former U.S. Rep. Dennis Kucinich called for a ban on assault weapons, Cordray only backed expanded background checks. He did not call for a guns ban.
Cordray's running mate, former U.S. Rep. Betty Sutton, disagrees with him on this issue.
“I have stood for an assault weapons ban. My running mate believes that the semi-automatic weapons should be available for legal ownership by those who play by the rules and follow the law,” Sutton said in March. “I think having a difference of opinion on a team is not a bad thing.”
The current Ohio governor, Republican John Kasich, has said he wants a way to ban the AR-15 assault weapon. But he has not issued any executive orders or pushed for legislation to do so.
A few Ohio Democrats have backed a bill that would ban assault weapons, but they do not have support from Republicans, who control the Statehouse, or even from all of their Democratic colleagues.
Certain semi-automatic weapons were banned in the United States between 1994 and 2004.
The Enquirer / Suffolk University poll, conducted June 6-11, had a margin of error of plus or minus 4.4 percentage points. Live callers reached 500 likely voters from around the state on landlines and cell phones.
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Enquirer reporter Jessie Balmert contributed.
