Polls show most Americans concern safety over gun rights
Recent polls show a wide margin of support among Americans for gun control legislation in the wake of several prominent mass shootings.
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A new poll published on Thursday by NPR-PBS News Hour-Marist found that 59% of respondents prioritize controlling gun violence over Americans’ right to own a firearm. That number varies sharply by political party, with 92% of Democrats holding this position but only 20% of Republicans; 66% of independents also agreed.
For gun ownership advocates, the right to own a firearm is enshrined in the US Constitution, the Second Amendment which stipulates that “a well regulated Militia, being necessary to the security of a free State, the right of the people to keep and bear Arms, shall not be infringed.” However, gun control advocates point to the phrase “well-regulated” as evidence they can restrict access to guns.
Federal lawmakers in the Democratic-majority US House of Representatives advanced several federal gun control bills this week, including a “red flag” bill and one to raise the minimum age for buying certain types of firearms, such as the AR-15 semi-automatic rifle used in many recent shootings. However, neither bill is likely to get far in the US Senate, where Republicans can use their 50-person bloc to obstruct legislation of which they disapprove.
Last year, the House also passed a Bipartisan Background Checks Act, but it, too, has stalled in the Senate.
The NRA, a nationwide gun ownership advocacy NGO, spends significant resources to influence US politicians toward pro-gun policies. According to data collected by The Trace, in the 2020 US elections, the NRA spent $16.3 million fighting Joe Biden or supporting Donald Trump, and $12.2 million across 145 different congressional races. However, even that is just a fraction of what it shelled out in 2016 when the gun lobby group put $30.3 million into getting Trump elected and a total of $54.4 million into the elections.
