CBS News Poll shows what American kids have had to deal with these issues for decades.
“Frustrated” is what Americans say they feel most about the political gun issue, more than “angry” or “satisfied.” (Photo: CBS News Poll)
CBS News Poll Shows Gun Violence Concern Among Parents
Today, their parents tell us, most of them are also worried about the possibility of gun violence, as shown in CBS News Poll. Concern among American parents is at an all-time high, and it has risen since the summer.
Seventy-seven percent of people nowadays are worried. At 72% the year before, it was already quite high. In CBS News Poll, “Frustrated” is the most common emotion reported by Americans regarding the political gun debate, topping both “angry” and “satisfied.” And over two-thirds of Americans agree that gun violence is a top concern.
One possible explanation for this anger is the widespread belief that neither major political party can be trusted to effectively reduce gun violence in the United States. Partisan differences fuel these perspectives, with one camp believing the other’s gun laws are dangerous. Democrats fare slightly better as compared to Republicans, but only just. Some of this is connected to a policy proposal that continues to have widespread public support in the United States: a ban on AR-15s.
A Ban on AR-15s
Those in favor of the proposal are more likely to regard the Democratic strategy as safer, while those against the notion are more likely to see the Republican strategy as safe. Three-quarters of Americans, however, believe that mass shootings are something that can be “prevented and stopped if we really tried” rather than “accepted as part of a free society.” The majority of people who own guns agree, with almost 40% of them favoring a ban on AR-15s.
More generally, there are still huge ideological divides in how people in United States feel about weapons and what they represent. About half of Americans say guns make the country “dangerous,” which is much more common than “safe” among the several options given. This, however, is where ideologies diverge sharply. When asked to describe weapons, liberals and moderates almost unanimously choose the term “dangerous,” while the majority of conservatives claim that guns make America more “free,” “strong,” and “safe.”
Thus, leftists and moderates alike tend to agree that fewer Americans, or even none at all, should have access to firearms. However, nearly half of conservatives believe that more gun ownership, or universal gun ownership, would make America safer.
