New Poll Finds 69% Of Americans In Favor Of Gun Safety Legislation

A new poll conducted by the Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs and Research found that more Americans than ever seem to be in favor of new legislation to address gun violence in response to the recurring wave of mass school shootings across the United States.

The AP-NORC recently polled 1,122 adults from a carefully chosen panel designed to represent the U.S. population, they found that overall 69 percent of Americans agree that gun laws should be made more strict. They found that 90 percent of Democrats, 54 percent of gun owners and half of all Republicans favored stricter gun control measures. Republicans like Senator Marco Rubio (R-Fla.), who previously refused to consider stronger gun laws, have recently shown openness to modest changes in the laws.

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Of those measures, eight in ten Americans were in favor of a federal law to prevent the sale of a gun to those whom are considered to be mentally ill, they also favored the idea of allowing courts to prevent those deemed a danger to themselves or others from ever owning a firearm.

Eight in ten Americans were also in support of expanding federal background checks to include gun shows and for those sold through private sale as well.

On the issue of  “bump stocks,” seven in ten Americans agreed that there should be a nationwide ban. Bump stocks are devices that allow semi-automatic weapons to fire similarly to an automatic. Six in ten believed there should be a nationwide ban on AR-15 rifles, such as the one that was most recently used against students and staff in Parkland, Florida, that resulted in 17 deaths.

Since Sandy Hook in 2012, there have been 239 similar shootings across the United States resulting in the deaths of more than 400 students.

However, survivors of the most recent massacre at the Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida, have taken it upon themselves to try and change that. The Associated Press-NORC poll also found that nearly half of all Americans do not expect their elected to officials to take any sort of action whatsoever.

Still, many still remain optimistic as the momentum for change finally seems to have gained some speed. This weekend across the country students are participating in the “March for Our Lives” in an effort to convince politicians to finally implement some sort of practical gun legislation. Recently actor Bill Murray gave an interview to the Rolling Stone where he compared the student activists of Parkland, who are spearheading this movement, to the student protesters during the Vietnam War. “The thing that’s so powerful about students is that, when you haven’t had your idealism broken yet, you’re able to speak from a place that has no confusion, where there is a clear set of values,” he said.

Article by Eric Silverman