Half of Americans support new gun control laws, polls show
Half of Americans support new gun control measures in the wake of last month's mass shooting at a Newtown, Conn., elementary school, including a ban on assault weapons and high-capacity magazines, two new polls show.
Fifty-two percent - of those polled by The Washington Post/ABC News said the tragedy that left 26 dead, including 20 children, has made them more amenable to gun control. Though some Republicans, including Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., have said reinstating a nationwide ban on assault weapons would not pass muster in Congress, 58 percent of respondents said they would support doing so, and 65 percent said they would back a law banning high-capacity ammunition clips containing more than 10 bullets.
The most overwhelming number, though, was the 88 percent who said they favor closing the loophole that allows people to purchase guns at gun shows without first passing background checks. A comparable 85 percent answered the same way in another poll, conducted by the Pew Research Center for the People & the Press. Another point of consensus was a law to prevent mentally ill people from being able to purchase guns, which 80 percent told Pew they would support.
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But while some policies attracted broad support across party lines, others highlighted the ideological faceoff that's likely to emerge in the coming months after Vice President Joe Biden tenders his task force's recommendations on how to handle the nation's escalating gun violence.
A 25-point partisan gap is apparent, for example, on the assault weapons ban: Only 44 percent of Republicans, compared to 69 percent of Democrats, told Pew they would back the measure. Similar 19- and 20-point gaps, respectively, are seen when asked whether the government should ban semi-automatic weapons and high-capacity ammunition clips.
The majority of Republicans - 56 percent - who responded to Pew said they get behind the idea that arming teachers and officials in schools will help decrease gun violence, a notion only 23 percent of Democrats support. Eighty-four percent of Democrats, meanwhile, compared to 49 percent of Republicans, said they favor the creation of a federal database to track gun sales.
Regardless of which path lawmakers pursue, though, most of those sampled in the Washington Post/ABC News poll said enacting stricter gun laws should not be the highest priority for Congress and the White House in the coming months: The economy, 69 percent agreed, should take top billing.
The Washington Post/ABC News poll interviewed 1,001 Americans between Jan. 10 and 13, and has a +/- 3.5 percent margin of error. The Pew poll surveyed 1,502 Americans between Jan. 9 and 13, and has a +/- 2.9 percent margin of error.
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Gotta love folks that can't wrap their minds around the fact that history is bound to repeat itself when you do not study it! Cheers from the GREAT STATE!
We have all the gun control laws on the books we need.!
The REAL problem is these laws are not ENFORCED.!!!
Put pressure on every politician and lawmaker to enforce the laws already on the books.
Make treatment for those who are mentally ill a top priority.!!!
A man who resided in our State; already in a mental institution; told those at the hearing for his release or continued confinement; actually told them he thought he would hurt someone if he were released.
They let him go.
The end result: a manhunt that lasted for days, the murder of 7 innocent people. taking people hostage in a residential neighborhood that caused the evacuation of those living in that area that lasted for days and disrupted many lives.
Police, hostage negotiators were tied up for days in an effort to capture this man.
In addition to the grief caused by the loss of the families of those who were murdered, homes taken over by the police during the standoff were damaged, and it cost the county millions of dollars to maintain the police negotiations 24 hours a day.
Treatment of the mentally ill is extremely difficult to obtain.!
It costs big bucks to treat someone who is mentally ill, and the city, state and federal governments don't want to spend the money.!
300+ military personnel committed suicide in 2012.
Millions more are suffering from PTSD.
The VA constantly denies the presence of PTSD, and our troops and their families continue to suffer for years.
Our government sends billions of dollars in foreign aid to many countries who are our enemies every years.
It is a national disgrace that they are not willing to spend whatever it costs to treat those who suffer from PTSD and the millions of other people who need help.
Write, call or fax the President, Congress, and all your local governments and demand they allocate funds to threat or confine those who are mentally ill.!
This is the step that needs to be taken to end much of the violence that takes place here in the US.!
safety always first, personal responsibility...
Treat every gun as if its loaded at all times...
Seems simple enough...
And what do the gop nuts in many States who seem to dream of "civil war" do...
Use crayons to pen "bills" within seconds...going to throw in jail any Federal agent who "come to get your guns"...
In many of these States...The so called "law enforcement" can't even or refuse to deal with dogs at large, have trouble setting a live trap for a skunk...refuse to deal with drunk driving shooting "hunters" sending flying lead into towns....allow felons to have arsenals, are scared of their own shadows, have prior felonies and tell drug pushers to leave the State....
Selective enforcement of the law at its "best"
And them paid for nothing beyond incompetent substance abusing occifers going to do what? lol