New York — A majority of Americans, including Republicans, Democrats and gun owners, want stricter laws on gun ownership and armed guards in schools, according to a Reuters/Ipsos national poll taken in early March.
Hundreds of thousands of students and their families are expected to march in cities across the US on Saturday to demand stricter gun control, part of the response to a mass shooting at a Florida high school in February.
The following are some of the main findings of the poll.
Guns in schools: About 75% of adults say they want armed security guards in school, with some 53% in favour of publicly funding gun classes for teachers and school personnel, and 45% saying school staff should be encouraged to carry a weapon.
Bipartisan support for gun control: A majority of Democrats and Republican voters support stricter gun laws, including 91% on both sides who say anyone with a history of mental illness should be banned from owning a gun. Of Republicans, 84% believe people on the "no-fly" list should also be banned from gun ownership, and 83% are in favour of expanding background checks. A majority of Republicans also say assault weapons and high capacity ammunition clips should be outlawed.
Gun owners are more likely to vote: Gun owners are more politically active than others, the poll found. They are more likely to be registered to vote, and they express more interest in voting in November’s mid-term elections, when one third of US Senate seats and all the seats in the US House of Representatives will be decided.
Half of gun owners said they are certain to vote compared to 41% of people who do not own a gun.
Gun control is as important as the economy: Gun control is on a par with the economy as a top issue that will motivate US voters in November, the poll found.
Gun owners still approve of the National Rifle Association (NRA): One in four adults say they own a gun and the majority of gun owners say they own more than one gun.
Nearly 60% of gun owners say that the NRA gun-rights advocacy group is either doing "the right amount of work" or it "doesn’t do enough" to promote the interests of gun owners. About 30% say the NRA is "too aggressive" in promoting gun rights.
Separately, about 38% of gun owners also say they would like to vote in November for a congressional candidate who would oppose US President Donald Trump, with 39% saying the country is on the wrong track.
The Reuters/Ipsos poll of 2,389 US adults was conducted between March 5 and 7 and has an overall credibility interval of 4% to 5%.
Reuters
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