More Americans say controlling gun violence should be prioritized over gun rights: survey

More Americans believe it is more important to control gun violence than it is to protect gun rights, according to a poll released on Thursday. 

A new NPR-PBS NewsHour-Marist poll found that 59 percent of respondents said it is more important to control gun violence, compared to 35 percent who believe gun rights should be prioritized. 

Broken down by political party, 92 percent of Democrats, 20 percent of Republicans and 66 percent of independents believe controlling gun violence should be prioritized over gun rights protection — demonstrating the stark partisan divide on the issue.

However, majorities of Democrats (84 percent), Republicans (65 percent) and independents (66 percent) all say that the recent shootings in Uvalde, Texas, and Buffalo, N.Y., make them more likely to vote in the November midterm elections.

Overall, 72 percent of respondents polled said those events make them more likely to vote in the upcoming midterms.

The poll comes against the backdrop of several high-profile shootings in Buffalo, Uvalde and Tulsa, Okla. 

Ten people were killed and three more were injured at a supermarket in Buffalo, with the majority of those killed or wounded being Black. In Uvalde, 19 children and two adults were killed by a gunman in an elementary school. In Tulsa, four people died after a gunman went inside a hospital in an attempt to target his physician.

On Wednesday, a sweeping gun package — which would include a civilian ban on bump stocks and raising the minimum age for those purchasing a semi-automatic weapon — was passed by the House. The fate of it, however, remains unclear, given it requires the approval of at least 10 Senate Republicans.

Meanwhile, a bipartisan group of senators are also working on gun legislation negotiations.

The NPR-PBS NewsHour-Marist poll was conducted from May 31 to June 6 among 1,063 people with a margin of error of 4.3 percentage points.