… With Hillary Clinton immediately embracing it, and the leading Republican presidential contenders all quickly condemning it, Obama’s proposed executive action to expand background checks for gun sales is likely to widen the cultural chasm between the parties that defines the 2016 race. CONT. Ronald Brownstein, National Journal Recent polls: […] Read more »
Americans Evaluate the Balance between Security and Civil Liberties
In the aftermath of recent high-profile attacks on Western targets by Islamic extremists, fear of terrorism has grown while the public remains divided on whether the struggle against terrorism is worth the loss of some rights. In the latest Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research poll, 54 percent of […] Read more »
AP-Times Square Alliance online poll: Mass shootings weighed on Americans in 2015
… Americans say the most important events of 2015 were a string of mass shootings, including the attacks in San Bernardino, California, and Paris, plus Islamic State group atrocities. … Americans also are much less likely than they were a year ago to believe that the current year was better […] Read more »
Behind the Numbers on Opposition to an Assault Weapons Ban
We’ve gotten intense interest in our latest ABC News/Washington Post poll finding first-time majority opposition to an assault weapons ban. What follows is an attempt to explain this result in the context of our decades of research on public opinion on gun control -– plus a few additional data points. […] Read more »
Most Now Oppose an Assault Weapons Ban; Doubts About Stopping a Lone Wolf Run High
A majority of Americans oppose banning assault weapons for the first time in more than 20 years of ABC News/Washington Post polls, with the public expressing vast doubt that the authorities can prevent “lone wolf” terrorist attacks and a substantial sense that armed citizens can help. CONT. Gary Langer, ABC […] Read more »
Americans More Worried About Terrorism Than Mass Shootings
More Americans are “very” or “somewhat” worried that they or a family member will become a victim of an Islamic State-inspired terrorist attack (47%) than they are about becoming a victim of a mass shooting (38%). But a majority of Americans say they are not worried about either potential event. […] Read more »