POLL: 3 out of 4 Senate battleground voters oppose selling silencers without background checks in Trump’s “big, beautiful bill”
74% of voters, including 59% of Trump voters, believe silencers should require a background check.
Senate battleground voters will be less likely to vote for senators who vote to loosen silencer regulations by a 48–15 margin.
WASHINGTON — GIFFORDS, the national gun violence prevention organization founded by former Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords, released new poll data on Wednesday showing voters in 2026 Senate battleground states are stridently opposed to congressional Republicans’ proposal to remove silencers from the National Firearms Act (NFA) restrictions.
Currently, under the NFA, buyers must pass a thorough background check and register each silencer. Silencers are rarely used in crimes because the law has successfully stopped them from falling into the wrong hands. Current laws stopped the shooters in the 2022 Tops Friendly Market massacre in Buffalo, New York, and the 2023 Lewiston, Maine, from accessing silencers. Under the House’s “Big, Beautiful Bill,” silencers will be stripped from the NFA and subject to the same loopholes and trafficking that have fueled this country’s epidemic of gun violence—including loopholes that will permit them to be bought and sold without background checks of any kind.
In the coming weeks, Senate Republicans will decide for themselves whether to allow silencers to be sold without a background check.
A GIFFORDS poll of voters in 2026 Senate battleground states (GA, ME, MI, MN, NH, NC, OH) found:
- 74% of voters, including 59% of Trump voters, think silencers should require a background check.
- Voters oppose making gun silencers more available to the public by a 61–22 margin.
- 58% of Senate battleground voters say loosening regulations on silencers would make things more dangerous for police.
- Only 15% of Senate battleground voters would be more likely to vote for a candidate who voted to loosen regulations on gun silencers, compared to 48% who would be less likely.
“Voters across the political spectrum understand that selling silencers to anyone, no questions asked, will increase crime and put police officers at risk. As the Senate formulates its own version of the bill, they would be wise to remove this dangerous provision— we will make sure voters are paying attention,” said GIFFORDS Executive Director Emma Brown. “Republican Senators can see this is an obvious political loser: Voters don’t want criminals to have access to silencers, which is why three-quarters of Senate battleground voters oppose allowing silencers to be sold without a background check.”
The survey of 607 voters was conducted within Georgia, Maine, Michigan, Minnesota, New Hampshire, North Carolina, and Ohio on May 29–30, 2025. The margin of error is +/- 4.0%.
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