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A new poll from Quinnipiac University finds the highest level of support ever in a Q poll for gun control measures. The national poll of voters was conducted February 16-19, in the immediate aftermath of the Feb. 14 massacre at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida.
American voters support stricter gun laws 66–31 percent, the highest level of support ever measured by the independent Quinnipiac University National Poll, with 50–44 percent support among gun owners and 62–35 percent support from white voters with no college degree and 58–38 percent support among white men.
Today's result is up from a negative 47–50 percent measure of support in a December
23, 2015, survey by the independent Quinnipiac (KWIN-uh-pe-ack) University Poll.
Stricter gun control would do more to reduce gun violence in schools, 40 percent of voters say, while 34 percent say metal detectors would do more and 20 percent say armed teachers are the answer. […]
"If you think Americans are largely unmoved by the mass shootings, you should think again. Support for stricter gun laws is up 19 points in little more than 2 years," said Tim Malloy, assistant director of the Quinnipiac University Poll.
"In the last two months, some of the biggest surges in support for tightening gun laws comes from demographic groups you may not expect, independent voters, men, and whites with no college degree."
- Support for universal background checks is nearly total—97 to 2 percent, including 97 to 3 percent among gun owners.
- Support for an assault weapons ban is massive—67 to 29.
- Mandatory waiting periods for purchasing guns checks in at 83 to 14.
More than two-thirds of voters, 67 percent, say it is too easy to get a gun in this country while 59 percent say the NRA's answer—guns for everybody—would make everyone less safe. Almost as striking, and this aligns with the 53-38 percent advantage Democrats have in the poll, 75 percent say Congress needs to do more. That's up 8 points from when they last asked just in December 2017. The response to this question, "Is being the victim of a mass shooting something you personally worry about or not?" is sobering.
The "yes" response to that has increased from 37 to 45 percent since December. And here's another area in which Trump is losing the argument—Americans believe U.S. citizens are more likely to pose a danger than immigrants, 70-20.
This is in many ways a better measure of attitudes toward guns and gun control than the Washington Post-ABC News poll released earlier Tuesday because it tracks specific gun proposals and doesn't set up the binary choice for responders of guns versus mental health—the red herring of the gun debate.
If the brave young people of Parkland and the nation aren't scaring the shit out of Republicans right about now, the American voter should be.