Support for gun control isn’t dead, new poll shows. It just matters how you frame the question
http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/wonkblog/wp/2015/06/03/support-for-gun-control-isnt-dead-new-poll-shows-it-just-matters-how-you-frame-the-question/
An oft-cited proof of this new order is a Pew poll from December. That poll found that -- for the first time -- a majority of Americans favored gun rights (52 percent) over gun control (46 percent). As this Washington Post headline summed it up, Two years later, Newtown has meant almost nothing to the gun debate.
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The Pew poll pitted gun rights vs. gun control, asking respondents which one they thought was more important.
Pick one.
The results appeared to show Americans have lost faith in gun control.
But drill down into specific policies, and youll find a broad base of support, Barry said.
The Hopkins 2015 study found large majorities favored gun regulations that are stronger than those currently seen in federal or most state laws.
The Pew poll showed the same thing, that when asked about specific policies there was broad support for stricter gun control, i.e. background checks, limit on magazine size, better reporting to the NICS etc.
The new poll shows strong support for those same policies even among the NRA membership. Only the banning of assault rifles (and other similar policies restricting types of weapons) got a pan from the NRA membership.
General Motors has a glitch in the ignition switch that killed a dozen people but 30,000 deaths by gun barely raises an eyebrow. Go figure.