Blog Briefing Room

Support for stricter gun laws slips: Gallup

by Zach Schonfeld 11/21/22 09:09 AM ET

This photo, provided by the Office of New York Attorney General Letitia James, on Aug. 28, 2022 shows some of the 296 firearms, including 177 ghost guns, that were surrendered to law enforcement at a gun buy-back event hosted by her office and the Utica, NY, Police Department. The New York attorney general’s office has tightened rules on gun buybacks after a critic of the policy boasted online about receiving $21,000 in gift cards for weapon parts made on a 3D printer. Buybacks are a popular way for government officials to try to get guns off the streets. But they can also attract people trying to demonstrate that buybacks are futile in the era of printable weapons. (Office of New York Attorney General via AP)

The share of Americans supporting stricter gun laws has fallen 9 percentage points since June, according to a new Gallup poll.

The poll, released on Monday, found 57 percent of U.S. adults desired stricter gun laws, compared to 66 percent in June following high-profile mass shootings at an elementary school in Uvalde, Texas, and a supermarket in Buffalo, N.Y.

The latest poll was taken before recent shootings at the University of Virginia and a Colorado Springs, Colo., nightclub, both of which have gained significant national attention.

Another 32 percent of respondents indicated gun laws should be kept as they are now, while an additional 10 percent wanted to see gun laws made less strict.

Gallup has surveyed the national mood toward gun laws since 1990, when it recorded a record high of 78 percent of Americans supporting stricter laws for gun sales.

Although the measure has fallen in recent months, it remains well above the record low of 43 percent recorded in October 2011 and the share who supported stricter gun laws one year ago.

Gallup’s newest survey, like those taken in the past, found support for stricter gun laws varies based on partisanship.

Eighty-six percent of Democrats, 60 percent of independents, and 27 percent of Republicans said they wanted stricter gun laws in the newest survey.

Support among each of the three groups has fallen since June, with the largest drop — 11 percentage points — among Republicans.

In the wake of the Uvalde and Buffalo mass shootings, lawmakers passed a bipartisan gun law that included provisions to strengthen background checks for firearm purchasers under the age of 21, provide funding for states to implement red flag laws and crack down on straw purchases, among others.

The bill had gotten unanimous support from Democratic lawmakers as well as 14 House Republicans and 15 Senate Republicans, including Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.).

The Gallup survey was conducted between Oct. 3 and Oct. 23 through telephone interviews with 1,009 U.S. adults. The margin of error is plus or minus 4 percentage points for the full sample.