Polls show strong support for new gun laws

[Playinghardball]

The White House is set to release a series of recommendations from Vice President Biden's task force on gun violence, which will no doubt face intense criticism from groups like the NRA and their allies. But two new polls suggest that a month after the massacre at Sandy Hook Elementary, there's a growing public appetite for meaningful gun reform.



A Pew Research Center report released late yesterday found a majority of Americans support a wide variety of new measures, some by enormous margins. For example, 85% of Americans favor making private gun sales and sales at gun shows subject to background checks, while 80% support laws to prevent mentally ill people from purchasing guns.

It's worth emphasizing that in our current political climate, 80% of Americans don't agree on much, but they at least agree on measures like these.

What's more, two-thirds of Americans (67%) favor creating a federal database to track gun sales. In a bit of a surprise, nearly as many people (64%) support having more armed security in schools, boosted by large numbers of self-identified Republicans backing the idea.

Indeed, there are, not surprisingly, significant partisan divides on most of the proposals, with Democrats and Republicans more likely to back new measures than Republicans. That said, looking through the results, it's hard not to notice that GOP voters are not reflexively opposed to new gun laws -- among Republicans, 49% support a federal database, 49% support a ban on semi-automatic weapons, and 46% support a ban on high-capacity ammunition clips.

http://maddowblog.msnbc.com/_news/2013/01/15/16523822-polls-show-strong-support-for-new-gun-laws

[Mojorabbit]

1. I am surprised on the armed security at schools result. nt

[samsingh]

5. people probably want more police presence

[Recursion]

2. Interesting that banning semi-autos polls better than banning assault-style weapons or high-cap mags

That's very interesting.

[Scuba]

6. See my post #4.

[samsingh]

3. kick

[Scuba]

4. Note how the ban on "assault weapons" has less support than banning semi-autos....

... showing just how effective the NRA has been in diverting attention to obscure/arbitrary definitions instead of the real problem.

As a result, there's more support for banning my Colt 45 (7-round mag) than an AR-15 (30 round mag).

Prime evidence that the NRA is doing gun owners a disservice by their refusal to support an honest debate on the issues.

Gun owners: the NRA is NOT your friend.

[Recursion]

8. Maybe it means people understand it's a stupid idea to ban "assault style" weapons

If you want to ban semi-autos, ban semi-autos. Regulating what they can and can't look like is a pretty dumb idea.

If you ban the AR, Colt will manufacture it with a differently-shaped grip to make it legal. What an awesome thing we will have accomplished!

[Scuba]

9. Agreed that firepower, not cosmetics should be the measure. My point is about the NRA...

... if America decides they can't resolve the "assault" definition problem, why not just ban everything except single-shot rifles and shotguns?

That's what we'll get if the gun lobby doesn't get on board with solving our gun-violence problem.

[Recursion]

10. I'd support that, though I'm not so worried about internal/fixed magazines

I don't think internal or fixed magazines are that much of a problem. But, yes, we should definitely regulate based on capacity rather than looks, which is why I keep opposing the AWB.

[Lizzie Poppet]

11. It might just mean that some non-gun-owners don't know what "semi-automatic" means.

I know a lot of non-shooters that think the term means "machine gun." Not criticizing them for that, since there's no reason for them to be familiar with firearms, but if they think the question is about machine guns, it's not surprising that they'd favor restrictions. I suspect such people make up a not-insignificant minority of those respondents.

[Scuba]

12. So you support my hypothesis that the NRA's diversion hurts gun owners?

[Lizzie Poppet]

13. The NRA are not exactly on my Christmas card list, no.

For some time n ow, I've considered them to be little better than a de facto auxiliary of the Republican Party. And LaPierre's ranting is indeed detrimental to the best interests of gun owners...

[Scuba]

14. Thanks!

[Robb]

7. Fed database right near the top

DU protestations notwithstanding.