Support holding for stricter gun control laws: poll

Support for tougher gun control measures is holding steady, according to a Politico/Morning Consult poll released Wednesday.

Sixty-six percent of Americans said in the new poll, which was conducted shortly after the nationwide “March for Our Lives” protest against gun violence, that they would prefer U.S. gun laws be tightened. Just 28 percent said they oppose tougher gun control.

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That level of support is higher than at any point in 2016 or 2017, but it is slightly lower than the initial level of support registered by the same poll in the days following the deadly Parkland, Fla., high school shooting in February.

Support for tougher gun laws also remains higher today than in the days following the massacre in Las Vegas last year, when dozens of concertgoers were slain by a mass shooter firing from a hotel room.

Gun control is becoming increasingly polarized, especially among Republicans, pollsters note. Fifty-one percent of Republicans support stricter gun control, while 46 percent oppose it. Just 37 percent of Republicans opposed tightening restrictions on gun ownership in the same poll two weeks ago.

“As the ‘March for Our Lives’ rally garnered widespread media attention, our polling suggests Republican opposition against tougher gun laws has increased in the last few weeks,” said Morning Consult pollster Kyle Dropp.

Voters are pessimistic that Congress will get anything done, however. Only 8 percent of Americans said there was an “excellent” chance of Congress passing gun control measures, and just 21 percent said there was a “good” chance of such laws passing. Sixty-one percent said the chance of passing tighter gun restrictions through Congress was “fair” or “poor.”

The Politico/Morning Consult poll surveyed 1,997 voters between Mar. 29 and April 1 and has a margin of error of 2 percentage points.