Support surges

Gun control support surges in polls

By STEVEN SHEPARD

Support for stricter gun laws has spiked in polls conducted after the fatal South Florida school shooting, hitting its highest level in at least a quarter-century.

Roughly two-in-three Americans now say gun control laws should be made more strict in the wake of the murder of 17 people at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School, according to a number of polls, including a new POLITICO/Morning Consult poll which shows support for stricter gun laws among registered voters at 68 percent, compared to just 25 percent who oppose stricter gun laws.

It’s common for support for gun control to tick up in the aftermath of mass shootings. But there appears to be a clear trend in all the post-Parkland polling: This time is different. The percentage of Americans who want more restrictive gun laws is greater now than after any recent shooting.

Morning Consult polling only goes back two years, but support for stricter gun laws was at 58 percent following the 2016 Pulse nightclub shooting that killed 49 people, 64 percent following the 2017 mass shooting that resulted in 58 deaths at country-music concert in Las Vegas and 60 percent last November, after a shooter killed 26 people inside a church in Sutherland Springs, Texas.

Much of that increased support comes from Republicans, according to Kyle Dropp. Morning Consult’s co-founder and chief research officer.

"Republican support for tougher gun laws is at its highest point since Morning Consult and POLITICO began tracking the issue," said Dropp. "In this week's poll, 53 percent of Republicans indicated they supported stricter gun laws, compared to 37 percent [of Republicans] who said the same following the Pulse nightclub shooting in June 2016.”

Other polls show similar growth in support for additional gun restrictions — and that the growth comes mostly from Republicans and independents. A CBS News poll out late last week found 65 percent of Americans say the laws governing the sale of guns should be stricter — an increase of 8 points from last December, and the highest number CBS News has ever recorded for stricter gun laws.

While support was up 8 points overall, it was up 14 points among Republicans, compared to 8 points among independents and 2 points among Democrats.

A CNN poll released this week recorded support for stricter gun control laws at 69 percent — the highest mark since 1993. It’s up from just 52 percent last October, shortly after the Las Vegas shooting. Nearly half of Republicans, 49 percent, support stricter gun laws, up from 30 percent in October. (Both the CBS News and CNN polls were conducted by SSRS, a public polling firm.)

Until recently, support for stricter gun laws had waned over the past 25 years, since then-President Bill Clinton signed into the law the Brady Handgun Violence Prevention Act, and the Federal Assault Weapons Ban. Both were enacted in 1994, and Gallup polling since has showed a general trend away from stronger gun laws. (Gallup last asked this question last October, but has data going back decades.)

In the POLITICO/Morning Consult poll, most gun control proposals — including those opposed by a large share of Republicans in Congress — earn broad approval. Eighty-eight percent support requiring background checks on all gun sales. Eighty-four percent back preventing sales of firearms to people who have been convicted of violent misdemeanors.

Raising the age limit on gun purchasers is also widely popular. Eighty-two percent think the age limit should be 21 to purchase an assault-style weapon, and 81 percent support requiring purchasers of all firearms to be 21.

More than three-in-four voters, 78 percent, want to create a national database with information about each gun sale. The same percentage support a three-day waiting period for all gun purchases, and 77 percent support a ban on bump stocks, which President Donald Trump has called a priority for his administration.

More sweeping restrictions also earn overwhelming support. Seventy percent of voters support a ban on high-capacity magazines, and 68 percent want to ban assault-style weapons. Three-in-five want to ban firearms from schools and college campuses across the country.

Despite the popularity of many of these initiatives, voters are still pessimistic that Congress will pass a gun-control bill. Just 10 percent think there’s an "excellent" chance Congress will pass stricter gun laws in the next year, and only 21 percent say there’s a "good" chance. More than a quarter, 27 percent, say there’s a "fair" chance Congress passes a gun bill strengthening the nation’s gun laws, while 32 percent call the odds “poor.”

While support for stricter gun laws is at a new high in Morning Consult’s polling, voters are nevertheless wary of Congress going too far in imposing restrictions on gun ownership rights. Slightly more voters, 46 percent, say it’s more important to protect the rights of Americans to own guns than to limit gun ownership (42 percent). By a narrow margin, more voters trust Republicans in Congress to handle gun policy (41 percent) than congressional Democrats (37 percent).

Voters remain open to Trump’s plan to allow teachers and staff to be armed in the event of a school shooting. Half of voters, 50 percent, support equipping teachers and school staff with concealed firearms to respond in the event of a school shooting. A smaller number, 42 percent, oppose such a proposal.

The POLITICO/Morning Consult poll was conducted February 22-26, surveying 1,992 registered voters. The margin of error is plus or minus 2 percentage points.