Public opinion substantially favors allowing concealed carry of handguns with a permit or license required. This is true of both a Constitutional right under the Second Amendment and as a matter of law. In contrast, there is substantial majority opposition to laws allowing concealed carry without a licensing requirement. CONTINUED […] Read more »
The consensus of dissensus
After multiple violent mass shootings in recent weeks, we, yet again, return to the topic of gun control and the role it plays in our tribalized divided time. These incidences of mass violence have become all too familiar in recent years. Guns are at the center of our hyper-partisan world, […] Read more »
Views on semiautomatic weapons remain partisan
Fifty-one percent of Americans favor a nationwide ban on the sale of AR-15 rifles and similar semiautomatic assault weapons, while 32% are opposed. An additional 18% hold neither opinion. The poll was conducted May 12-16, the same weekend of the shooting at a Tops supermarket in Buffalo, New York. Roughly […] Read more »
How long are Americans sad and angry about mass shootings? Four days.
Americans woke up on Wednesday morning feeling some combination of deep sadness and intense anger. The feeling was shared throughout the country. Americans are grieving. … As overwhelming as the feeling is now, the available evidence suggests that it will fade into the background within about four days. This means […] Read more »
Why gun control laws don’t pass Congress, despite majority public support and repeated outrage over mass shootings
The front page of the local newspaper in Uvalde, Texas, on May 26, 2022. Allison Dinner/AFP via Getty Images) Monika L. McDermott, Fordham University and David R. Jones, Baruch College, CUNY With the carnage in Uvalde, Texas, and Buffalo, New York in May 2022, calls have begun again for Congress […] Read more »
Why Republicans feel little political pressure for stricter gun control
The fatal shooting of 19 children and two adults on Tuesday in Uvalde, Texas, has shocked the country, evoking memories of other tragic school shootings such as Columbine, Newtown and Parkland, and renewing calls for Congress to do something. But the response to those calls from many Republican lawmakers is […] Read more »