Republicans still don’t support gun control, a new YouGov survey finds, even though five Republicans joined with House Democrats to pass gun control legislation in the wake of the Uvalde, Texas, mass shooting that left 19 children and two teachers dead. The legislation included raising the age to purchase semi-automatic weapons, banned high capacity magazine and would expand background checks before being able to own a weapon. This measure has largely bi-partisan support of Americans.
The newfound shared views on at least some of the restrictions indicates a rare opportunity to achieve common ground and possible action. There is bi-partisan support in the ideas of preventing those with a history of mental illness from owning guns, and adding criminal and mental health history checks to the background checks, as well as new funding in studying mental health and gun violence. Sixty-four percent of Republicans and 84% of Democrats agree that raising the age for owning semi-automatics from 18 to 21 is something they would like to see.
President Biden, in a June 2 address to the nation on recent mass shootings (the shooting at a Buffalo, New York grocery store that killed ten people happened just 10 days before the shooting in Uvalde) called for reinstating the 1994 ban on semi-auttomatic weapons. However, Republicans do not support this and there is also less support of red flag laws which can remove weapons on a temporary basis from the homes/hands of people who may pose a threat to themselves or others. Conversely, Republicans do appear to support preventing people who have a history of mental illness from owning guns.
Some 62% of Democrats say that stricter gun laws might have prevented the recent bout of mass shootings while only 19% of Republicans say so, the You Gov survey found. Republicans have recently been saying they think school administrators and teachers should have the option of be armed in school, while most Democrats do not agree.
While the Democratic controlled House of Representatives passed gun-control legislation, it is seen as “doomed” when it reaches the sharply divided Senate, where 60 votes are required to end a filibuster. Congressional Republicans are attempting to frame the bill as a Democratic effort to destroy the Second Amendment.
Guns and gun control are more important to Democrats than Republicans, new polling indicates. 77% or Republicans and 21% of Democrats say that Democrats want to take away most guns from people, and 67% of gun owners think that Democrats simply want to take their guns, but just 11% believe Republicans want to seize their weapons.