Most everyday Republicans and those with guns in their home support implementing new gun restrictions including background check enhancements, putting them at odds with the Republicans in Congress who claim to represent their constituents, according to an analysis from the Washington Post.
In the world of lawmaking, Republicans have consistently shut down Democrats who tried to expand gun restrictions, such as by requiring background checks at gun shows, but outside of Washington, D.C., the polling tells a different story, according to a review by Washington Post national columnist Philip Bump. In the U.S., it has also been argued that people who own guns need significantly more training.
Bump pointed to polling by Fox News to support his point, noting that it "has been consistently good, to the extent, in fact, that the network often seems to downplay its own unfavorable poll findings."
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"They presented respondents with eight possible measures that could reduce gun violence. Of those, a majority favored implementing," Bump wrote. "The only one that didn’t have majority support? One that’s commonly proposed by Capitol Hill Republicans: increasing the number of people carrying firearms for defense."
Bump further highlighted that residents of households that have guns "are generally more supportive of new restrictions than are Republicans."
"That’s in part because some of those residents are probably Democrats, but it’s still striking," the columnist added.
The analysis also shows that around two-thirds of Republicans support universal criminal background checks, a minimum age of 21, a 30-day waiting period, and other new barriers on gun ownership.
"Each of those gets more support than simply encouraging more people to carry guns," as an answer for gun violence, Bump wrote. "But the Fox News poll highlights the stark difference between the willingness of Americans in general to implement new legislation aimed at limiting gun violence and the willingness of their elected representatives to do so."
