Recent Polling Shows Voters Demand Stronger Gun Laws
Washington, DC — In the face of recent tragedies, from Buffalo to Uvalde, Americans have made it clear that Congress must immediately work to pass stronger gun laws. Public sentiment for gun safety is nearing record highs, and several new polls demonstrate that many of the commonsense reforms needed to keep communities safe remain widely popular with voters. In case you missed it, highlights from several outlets can be found below:
Giffords and Global Strategy Group: Last week, Giffords and Global Strategy Group released polling from battleground states that shows voters view commonsense gun safety reforms as a needed solution to combat crime, especially among voters that Democrats most need to turn out to win in November: suburban voters, independents, Hispanic voters, and Black voters. These results were confirmed by a recent Pew Research Center survey that showed more than 75% of Americans view gun violence as a very big problem or moderately big problem.
POLITICO/Morning Consult: Conducted entirely after the shooting in Uvalde, a joint poll from Politico and Morning Consult found that voters overwhelmingly support lifesaving gun safety proposals, including:
- Requiring background checks on all gun sales: Eighty-eight percent strongly or somewhat support; 8% strongly or somewhat oppose.
- Creating a national database with info about each gun sale: Seventy-five percent strongly or somewhat support; 18% strongly or somewhat oppose.
- Banning assault-style weapons: Sixty-seven percent strongly or somewhat support; 25% strongly or somewhat oppose.
- Preventing sales of all firearms to people reported as dangerous to law enforcement by a mental health provider: Eighty-four percent strongly or somewhat support; 9% strongly or somewhat oppose.
- Making private gun sales and sales at gun shows subject to background checks: Eighty-one percent strongly or somewhat support; 11% strongly or somewhat oppose.
- Requiring all gun owners to store their guns in a safe storage unit: Seventy-seven percent strongly or somewhat support; 15% strongly or somewhat oppose.
Navigator Research: New polling from Navigator Research finds that nearly 3 in 5 Americans want stronger gun laws and believe that Congress has not done enough to reduce violence in schools, houses of worship, and other public places. Navigator’s results also show that the violent crimes Americans are most concerned about include mass shootings, community violence, and hate crimes—with Black and AAPI Americans most concerned about hate crimes. Additional data is broken down below:
- Gun violence and mass shootings are seen as a crisis or major issue by seven in ten Americans.
- Majorities across racial groups believe gun laws in the United States should be stronger, as do pluralities of independents (47%) and gun owners (37%).
- Majorities across partisanship and race say hate crimes are a crisis or a major issue, but while nearly half of Democrats (47%) and a majority of Black Americans (59%) say they are a crisis, only one in five (20%) Republicans agree.
- Democrats (54%) and Black Americans (49%) are most likely to feel “strongly” that leaders in Washington have not done enough to prevent gun violence. Since July 2021, there has also been a 14-point increase in the net share who agree we have not done enough to reform gun laws (from +10 to +24).
Americans are demanding action, and our leaders must do more to meet the moment. From passing universal background check legislation in the Senate to confirming Steve Dettlebach to serve as the next Director of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, real solutions to America’s gun violence problem exist and are within reach if legislators find the #CourageToAct—and if they don’t, Americans will remember in November.
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