Support for tougher gun laws climbs after May mass shootings: Gallup

Americans’ support for tougher gun laws and reform has risen in the wake of several deadly mass shootings last month, according to a new Gallup poll. 

The poll found that 66 percent of respondents said they want stricter gun laws, while 25 percent of those surveyed said they would prefer gun laws remain as they are and 8 percent of respondents believe that they should be less strict. 

The percentage of Americans who want stricter gun laws is up 14 percentage points from a poll conducted after the mass shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Fla. in 2018, according to the survey giant.

In an October, 2021 poll, 52 percent of respondents expressed support for stricter gun laws, Gallup noted.

Fifty-five percent of respondents in the new survey also said they want the government to pass new gun reform legislation in addition to enforcing current laws. 

Another 55 percent said that gun policy is an “extremely important” ahead of the midterm elections, while 27 percent of those surveyed said that gun policy is a “very important” issue to them. 

When broken down by political affiliation, 94 percent of Democrats surveyed said they want to see stricter gun laws, as did 66 percent of independents and 38 percent of Republicans.

This findings come just after Senate negotiators reached an agreement on bipartisan gun safety legislation. 

The Bipartisan Safer Communities Act includes funding for school safety resources, expanded background checks for buyers under the age of 21, penalties for straw purchases of firearms and new protections for domestic violence victims. 

The bill is expected to pass in the Senate, as 14 GOP lawmakers voted to advance it Tuesday evening. A final vote in the upper chamber is expected later this week.

Ninety-two percent of those recently surveyed by Gallup said they would support enhanced background checks on all gun sales, and 86 percent of respondents would support banning individuals who are deemed dangerous from purchasing a firearm. 

The Gallup poll was conducted from June 1 to June 20 with a total of 1,015 respondents surveyed. The poll’s margin of error is 4 percentage points.

–Updated at 8:16 a.m.