Public opinion on gun control in the United States

Public opinion on gun control in the United States has been tracked by numerous public opinion organizations and newspapers for more than 20 years. As of late February and early March 2018, a majority of Americans support stricter gun laws, including wide support for universal background check and mandatory waiting periods for gun purchases and including support for banning assault weapons, adding felons and mental illness patients to background check systems, and prohibiting sales of guns to persons under 21 years old.

History

1990s

In the 1990s, public support for gun control led then-president Bill Clinton to sign into law the 1994 Federal Assault Weapons Ban, which remained in force for ten years thereafter before expiring. A 1995 poll found that 58% of Americans were worried the government would not do enough to regulate guns, while only 35% of Americans reported worrying the government would regulate them too much.[1]

2012

A Pew Research Center poll conducted shortly after the 2012 Aurora shooting found that 47% of Americans thought controlling gun ownership was more important than protecting the rights of Americans to own guns, while 46% thought the opposite.[2]

Six days after the Sandy Hook elementary school shooting in 2012, another Pew Research Center poll found that 49% of Americans believed that controlling gun ownership was more important than protecting gun rights, while 42% of Americans believed the opposite. This marked the first time more Americans supported gun control more than gun rights since President Barack Obama took office in 2009.[2]

2015

A poll conducted by CBS News and New York Times in October 2015 found that 92% of Americans (and 87% of Republicans) supported universal background checks for all gun sales.[3]

2016

After the Orlando nightclub shooting in June 2016, NBC News and the Wall Street Journal released the results of a poll which found that 50% of Americans were more concerned the government would go too far in regulating guns, while 47% of Americans were more concerned that the government would not do enough to regulate guns.[1] A CBS News poll conducted the same month found that 57% of Americans supported a federal assault weapons ban, 13 percentage points higher than a previous poll they conducted in December 2015 (after the San Bernardino shooting.[4] Also in June 2016, a CNN/Opinion Research Corporation poll found that about 90% of Americans supported universal background checks.[5]

2017

On October 11, 2017, ten days after a mass shooting in Las Vegas killed 58 people, a Politico/Morning Consult poll was released. It found that 64% of Americans support stricter gun laws, while 29% opposed them. Support was higher among Democrats (83%) than among independents (58%) and Republicans (49%).[6]

2018

On February 21st 2018, eight days after the Stoneman Douglas High School shooting killed 17 people, the surviving students rallied for stricter gun control policies in Tallahassee, Florida, the state's capital and then again asked for the same gun restrictions at a CNN Town Hall later that day.[7] The events led to students across the nation showing their solidarity by walking out of their individual high schools and marching with the survivors.[8] A House Committee vote approved the bill to raise the age from 18 to 21 years old as the minimum age to buy and own a rifle in the state of Florida. As well as, creating a three-day waiting period for all gun purchases. The same bill proposed creating a program which allows teachers who have successfully completed law enforcement training and are deputized by the local county sheriff to carry weapons that are concealed within the classroom, if approved by the school district.[9]

In February 2018, 66% of American voters supported stricter gun laws, in a Quinnipiac University Polling Institute poll with a margin of error of +/- 3.4%, the highest level of support measured since 2008.[10][11] 70% of American adults supported stricter gun laws, according to a CNN poll with a margin of error of +/- 3.7%.[12] 75% of American adults supported stricter gun laws, according to an NPR/Ipsos poll with a margin of error of +/- 3.5%.[13][14] 65% of Americans support stricter gun laws, according to a CBS News poll with a margin of error of +/- 4%.[15] In March 2018, 67% of Americans supported stricter regulation of firearms sales, according to a Gallup poll with a margin of sampling error of +/- 4% at the 95% confidence level, the highest in any Gallup survey since 1993.[16]

On March 14th, 2018, many schools around the country took part in the Enough! National School Walkout to protest the NRA and current United States gun laws. The nationwide movement started around 10:00 A.M in each timezone and lasted about 17 minutes, each minute representing a victim of the Stoneman Douglas shooting.[17] During the protest, students from different schools took part in many acts of remembrance such as: holding a moment of silence, reading out the names of the victims, or spelling out the rallying cry of the movement—"Enough." However, several schools around the country did not let the activism go unpunished. Students faced anywhere from 3 hour detention to 5 day suspension for protesting.[18]

Predictors

A 2007 study found that an index of individualism and collectivism predicted both gun ownership and attitudes toward gun control in the United States.[19]

See also

References

  1. 1 2 Dann, Carrie (26 June 2016). "Poll: Voters Divided on Government Role in Gun Control, Access". NBC News. Retrieved 15 August 2016.
  2. 1 2 "After Newtown, Modest Change in Opinion about Gun Control". People & The Press. Pew Research Center. 20 December 2012. Retrieved 15 August 2016.
  3. ↑ Bialik, Carl (5 January 2016). "Most Americans Agree With Obama That More Gun Buyers Should Get Background Checks". Five Thirty Eight. Retrieved 15 August 2016.
  4. ↑ Solis, Marie (15 June 2016). "One Statistic Shows How the Orlando Shooting Has Swayed Public Opinion on Gun Control". Mic. Retrieved 15 August 2016.
  5. ↑ Agiesta, Jennifer; LoBianco, Tom (20 June 2016). "Poll: Gun control support spikes after shooting". CNN. Retrieved 15 August 2016.
  6. ↑ Shepard, Steven (2017-10-11). "Poll: Majority backs stricter gun control laws after Vegas shooting". POLITICO. Retrieved 2018-02-16.
  7. ↑ Berman, Mark; Weigel, David (22 February 2018). "NRA goes on the offensive after Parkland shooting, assailing media and calling for more armed school security" – via www.washingtonpost.com.
  8. ↑ Eltagouri, Marwa; McMillan, Keith (22 February 2018). "Marco Rubio and the NRA confronted by shooting survivors, grieving parents at tense town hall" – via www.washingtonpost.com.
  9. ↑ Anderson, Kelli Kennedy, Brendan Farrington and Curt. "Florida House committee approves gun bill that raises age limit to buy rifles, allows armed teachers".
  10. ↑ "U.S. Support For Gun Control Tops 2-1, Highest Ever, Quinnipiac University National Poll Finds". Quinnipiac University Polling Institute. February 20, 2018. Retrieved June 23, 2018. American voters support stricter gun laws 66 - 31 percent, the highest level of support ever measured by the independent Quinnipiac University National Poll
  11. ↑ Blake, Aaron (February 20, 2018). "Does gun control suddenly have real momentum?". The Washington Post. Retrieved June 23, 2018. And this new Quinnipiac University poll speaks to that. The poll shows 66 percent of Americans now support stricter gun laws — the highest that number has been since at least 2008.
  12. ↑ Agiesta, Jennifer (February 25, 2018). "CNN Poll: Seven in 10 favor tighter gun laws in wake of Parkland shooting". CNN. Retrieved June 23, 2018.
  13. ↑ Khalid, Asma (March 2, 2018). "NPR Poll: After Parkland, Number of Americans Who Want Gun Restrictions Grows". Morning Edition. NPR. Retrieved June 23, 2018.
  14. ↑ "Ipsos/NPR poll: Majority of Americans support policies aimed to keep guns out of hands of dangerous individuals". Ipsos. February 28, 2018. Retrieved June 23, 2018.
  15. ↑ "Poll: Support for stricter gun laws rises; divisions on arming teachers". CBS News. February 23, 2018.
  16. ↑ Jones, Jeffrey M. "U.S. Preference for Stricter Gun Laws Highest Since 1993". Gallup. Retrieved June 23, 2018.
  17. ↑ CNN, Emanuella Grinberg and Holly Yan,. "A generation raised on gun violence sends a clear message to adults: Enough". CNN. Retrieved 2018-03-16.
  18. ↑ CNN, Dakin Andone and David Williams,. "Yesterday, they walked out of class. Now, they're forced to stay after school". CNN. Retrieved 2018-03-16.
  19. ↑ Celinska, Katarzyna (June 2007). "Individualism and Collectivism in America: The Case of Gun Ownership and Attitudes Toward Gun Control". Sociological Perspectives. 50 (2): 229–247. doi:10.1525/sop.2007.50.2.229.
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