JUST IN: Whopping 59 Percent Say It’s ‘Important’ To ‘Pass Stricter Gun Control Laws’ in Poll Taken Between Buffalo and Uvalde Massacres
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By a whopping 2-to-1 margin, Americans say it is “important” to “pass stricter gun laws” in a poll taken after the Buffalo mass shooting, and published the day of the Uvalde, Texas massacre.
It’s a chilling sign of the times that barely enough time passed between last week’s terrifying racist attack in Buffalo and yesterday’s horrific massacre at an elementary school in Texas for a public opinion poll to be conducted.
Respondents to a Politico/Morning Consult poll — taken May 20-22, 2022 and published May 24 — were asked “how important, if at all, is it for elected leaders to do the following? Pass stricter gun control laws.”
A full 59 percent said it was either “Very important” (41%) or “Somewhat important” (18%) to pass stricter gun control laws, versus 32 percent who said it was either “Not too important” (13%) or “Not important at all” (19%) to pass stricter gun control laws.
Politico noted the partisan breakdown, and the implications of the poll:
The resistance from the GOP comes despite polling that shows Americans do favor stricter gun measures. A new POLITICO/Morning Consult poll out today — taken after the Buffalo massacre but before the tragedy in Uvalde, Texas — asked voters “how important, if at all, it is for elected leaders to … pass stricter gun control laws.”
A plurality of voters — 41% — said “very important,” 18% said “somewhat important,” 13% said “not too important,” 19% said “not important at all,” and 9% had no opinion. Toplines … Crosstabs
That suggests that the public is ready for action on gun violence. But so far, Washington has not been — and despite Tuesday’s horrid bloodshed, there’s little sign so far that they will start now.
Although Republicans did not achieve a majority, a hefty 37 percent said it was important to pass stricter gun control laws.
President Joe Biden addressed the nation from the White House Tuesday night to mourn the lives lost, and call for action, including stricter gun control measures.
