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Poll: Stronger gun laws wouldn't have stopped Navy Yard shooting

American voters are generally supportive of stricter gun control laws, but they don't think stricter laws would have prevented last month's shooting at the Navy Yard in Washington, D.C., according to a new poll from Quinnipiac University.

By a margin of 54 to 41 percent, respondents voiced support for stricter gun control laws. And by an overwhelming margin (89 to 9 percent), voters support background checks for all gun buyers, a policy that was debated but ultimately defeated in Congress earlier this year after the December 2012 shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Conn.

But when voters were asked whether stronger gun laws might have prevented the shooting at the Navy Yard, 61 percent said no.

And some good news for Starbucks, which was recently criticized by gun-rights proponents after asking customers to abstain from bringing guns into their stores: 66 percent of voters support Starbucks' request. Fifteen percent of voters say it makes them more likely to get coffee at Starbucks, while 11 percent say it makes them less likely to do so.

The poll also contains some interesting (if unsurprising) news about the state of the 2016 presidential election: Former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton continues to dominate the Democratic field, and she handily dispatches hypothetical Republican contenders in general election matchups.

Republicans, for their part, have nearly no idea who they would like to nominate.

Clinton earns the support of 61 percent of Democratic primary voters, with Vice President Joe Biden at 11 percent, and all other contenders in single digits. And in the general election, Clinton tops Gov. Chris Christie, R-N.J., by 13 points (49-36), Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky., by 17 points (53-36), and Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, by 23 points (54-31).

"We've got a long way to go until 2016, but at this point [Clinton] looks very, very strong," said Peter A. Brown, assistant director of Quinnipiac's polling institute.

The Republican field is as fractured as the Democratic field is unipolar. 17 percent of GOP primary voters support Paul, 13 percent support Christie, 12 percent support Sen. Marco Rubio, R-Fla., and 11 percent support former Gov. Jeb Bush, R-Fla. Cruz and Rep. Paul Ryan, R-Wis., each earn 10 percent support.

"The race for the GOP nomination remains wide open with a handful of candidates bunched together in low double-digits," Brown explained. "Sen. Ted Cruz's high-profile role opposing Obamacare has added him to that group, but he probably will have to find other ways to keep his star rising."

The Quinnipiac poll surveyed 1,497 registered voters between September 23 and 29, and it has a margin of error of plus or minus 2.5 percent.

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