Hispanics make up roughly 20 percent of the American population. How many of them are legal or not is a question I can’t answer, but there are an awful lot of them that are American citizens. 

And while ethnicity shouldn’t matter, there do seem to be tendencies where members of a given ethnic group tend to favor certain policies.

This year, some want us to know that gun control is a major concern for this large minority.

Hispanic registered voters consider halting gun violence a top political priority, ranking the issue alongside concerns about the economy and affordability, according to a poll shared with HuffPost on Thursday.

The nationwide survey highlighted the unique importance of firearm safety to a demographic that both parties struggle to reach, pointing to an opportunity for Democrats to broaden their appeal, given the party’s strong support for tougher gun laws.

The national survey was conducted from Aug. 28 to Sept. 10 by Global Strategy Group on behalf of the Everytown for Gun Safety Victory Fund, a reform group, and BOLD America PAC, which supports progressive Hispanic candidates. 

When asked to rank the urgency of political issues on a scale of one to five, some 79% of respondents viewed stopping school shootings as the top political issue — the highest share that any single issue received. Increasing the affordability of everyday items like gas and groceries trailed close behind at 78%. 

Latino voters expressed similar concern about mass shootings in general, with 71% ranking it as a top political issue.

Now, normally, I’d probably argue that being concerned about something like any of those doesn’t inherently mean gun control. Yes, the media thinks it does, but they can’t possibly imagine a way to address these issues that doesn’t involve restricting our rights.

But, I’m not going to.

Why? Because of this:

The poll mostly contains good news for Democrats. 

A sweeping majority of the poll’s 800 respondents supported universal background checks (91%), laws mandating safe gun storage (91%) and “red flag” laws that temporarily prohibit people from possessing firearms if they present a danger to themselves or others (80%). 

All of those positions have become standard for Democratic candidates, who generally favor gun control — including the party’s presidential nominee, Kamala Harris.

“This key voting bloc isn’t picky when it comes to protecting their communities,” reads a memo describing the poll results. “They simply want to see common-sense action taken by their elected officials to put an end to the violence.”

Now, that memo tells you an awful lot about the pollsters and their view of the issue, which might mean there was a fair bit of bias in setting up and running this particular poll, but I can’t confirm that. Then again, it is funded by Everytown, so what do you expect?

But let’s take this at face value for a moment here. Just because it’s biased doesn’t necessarily mean it’s wrong, so let’s break down reality for a moment.

Registered Hispanic voters aren’t a massive amount of the total Hispanic population, for one thing. Earlier this year, NPR was really upset at the relatively low voter registration for that group, among others.

Further, looking at registered voters isn’t as useful as looking at likely voters. This poll didn’t seem to do that. We don’t know what it would have found with a more refined search, but you’re still looking at something like 10 percent of the American population or so, at most, as being polls and favoring these policies. Sure, a lot of other people like them, too, but are these the big issues for everyone?

I don’t think so, but that’s just a gut feeling.

What I know is that this poll, which only seemed to focus on a single demographic and likely had to cherry-pick where to look for respondents, isn’t the definitive answer to the question.