Voters don’t seem to know where key senators actually stand on background checks.

All the pieces are lining up for gun control to become a big factor in this fall’s Senate races. Wide majorities of voters favor background-check policies pushed by Democrats, and polling shows the issue is increasingly important to voters in key states. Pro-gun control groups are girding to do battle with the NRA and other gun groups.

There’s just one problem: Voters appear deeply confused about where candidates stand on guns.

Public Policy Polling just did some research in New Hampshire and Florida, where incumbents Kelly Ayotte and Marco Rubio are in danger of losing their seats. PPP found that 76 percent of Floridians think Rubio supports banning people on the terror lists from buying guns, or are unsure of his position. Sixty-nine percent think he supports background checks on gun sales, or are unsure where he stands. Similarly, 74 percent of New Hampshire voters think Ayotte backs the “terror gap” legislation or are unsure, and 59 percent thinks she supports expanded background checks or are unsure.

Those fairly large majorities of voters are simply wrong. Rubio and Ayotte both voted against the big 2013 background-check bill.