Poll: Americans support tougher gun laws, don't expect Congress to act
With every mass shooting, positions on gun control seem to harden
more with no major breakthroughs. These advocates are accelerating
efforts to bypass the system and create change at the community level.
USA TODAY Opinion
WASHINGTON —
Americans overwhelmingly support tougher gun laws, a new USA
TODAY/Suffolk University Poll finds, but they also overwhelmingly agree
on this: Congress isn't likely to act anytime soon.
In
the wake of another deadly school shooting, this time in Florida, the
disconnect between public opinion and predictions of legislative
inaction is sharp. Advocates of gun control and others wonder if the
outcry sparked by students who survived the shooting spree at Marjory
Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland might shake the political
calculations that have stymied significant new limits on guns for
decades.
In contrast, some in corporate America — from airlines to car rental companies
— moved over the weekend to break ties with the National Rifle
Association, the powerful D.C. lobby that has stood against the most
far-reaching proposed gun laws. The NRA called their action "a shameful
display of political and civic cowardice."
"Right
now it's a joke," said Greg Silva, 64, a retired electrical engineer
from Reno, Nev., who was among those called in the poll. "If a person
wants a gun they can go to a gun show and pass no checks. That's
ludicrous." Licensed dealers at gun shows are required to conduct
background checks, but private sellers are not.
As
President Trump sends mixed signals about what he'll support when it
comes to gun legislation, his approval rating has fallen to its lowest
level in the USA TODAY survey since he was inaugurated last year. Just
38% now approve of the job he's doing as president; 60% disapprove.
That's
a steep drop from the president's standing one year ago, in March 2017,
soon after his first address to Congress had received good reviews.
Then, 47% expressed approval, a high-water mark for him in the poll; 44%
expressed disapproval.
What's more, the intensity
of feeling is hardening against the president. Now, the percentage who
"strongly disapprove" of him is more than double the percentage who
"strongly approve," 39% compared with 16%.
A new CNN poll released Sunday put Trump's approval rating at 35%, his lowest level in that survey.
The
USA TODAY/Suffolk Poll of 1,000 registered voters nationwide, taken
Tuesday through Saturday, has a margin of error of plus or minus three
percentage points.
On guns, a nation that is often divided on issues is remarkably united:
- By almost 2-1, 61%-33%, they say tightening gun-control laws and background checks would prevent more mass shootings in the United States.
- By more than 2-1, 63%-29%, they say semi-automatic weapons like the AR-15, used by the Florida shooter, should be banned.
- By more than 6-1, 76%-12%, they say people who have been treated for mental illness should be banned from owning a firearm.
Even
gun owners are inclined to support those three measures. But a majority
of Republicans say tighter gun laws wouldn't prevent more mass
shootings, and they oppose banning semi-automatic weapons.
Republicans
are more likely than Democrats to support a ban on firearms for those
who have been treated for mental illness, a proposal also backed
overwhelmingly by Democrats and independents.
"Everyone
who commits a mass shooting has a mental issue," says John Shaw, 60, of
Madison, Wisconsin. "Preventing them from getting the gun is the most
important thing."
Despite the consensus on some
measures, few expect Congress to toughen gun-control laws in the
foreseeable future. Fewer than one in five, 19%, say the odds are
excellent or good. More than three in four; 76%, rate them as fair or
poor.
Republicans are more likely than Democrats to predict Congress will act, 28% compared with 14%.
There
is a partisan divide on whether restricting access to guns or improving
mental health care would do more to curb mass shootings. By a wide
margin, Republicans and gun owners say improving mental health care
would do more. Democrats and those who don't have guns in their
household are inclined to say restricting access to guns would do more.
Overall, 39% say improving mental health care would do more; 31% say restricting access to guns would; 25% say both.
There
is bipartisan agreement on strengthening security at schools. By
58%-32%, those surveyed say schools should be required to have an armed
police officer on site. By 62%-27%, they say schools should be required
to have metal detectors at their doors.
Interestingly,
younger adults are less likely than older ones to back those ideas,
although a majority in both groups supported them. Among those 50 and
older, 69% support metal detectors, for instance, compared with 53% of
those under 35 years old.
When it comes to Trump's
approval ratings, there also are some significant demographic divides.
Younger voters are the least likely to approve of the job he is doing as
president. Just 31% of those under 35 years of age express approval,
compared with 42% of those 50 and older.
The
president's standing is strongest among whites, although a majority
still disapprove of him, 44% approve-55% disapprove. Only about one in
five Hispanics and one in ten African-Americans approve of the job he's
doing.
The partisan divide was sharp, if
unsurprising: 88% of Republicans approve of the job Trump is doing as
president, 89% of Democrats disapprove.
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