The National Rifle Association (NRA) might not like it, but the majority of Americans believe in tougher gun control.
As Michael Eric Dyson reported on The Ed Show Monday, a Pew poll found a minority of Americans interested in stricter gun laws—just 45%. But when other pollsters asked specific questions about restrictions, they found a different picture:
86 percent believe in further background checks, regardless of where a gun is purchased (January 2011 American ViewPoint/Momentum Analysis poll)
63 percent want a ban on high capacity clips (January 2011 CBS News poll)
69 percent want to limit the number of guns a citizen can buy in a period of time (April 2012 Ipsos/Reuters poll)
66 percent want a National gun registry (January 2011 American ViewPoint/Momentum Analysis poll)
88 percent want to prohibit those on the terror watch list from buying guns (January 2011 American ViewPoint/Momentum Analysis poll)
And yet, Congress has been unable to pass stricter gun laws and a spokesman for President Obama said he would not be pursuing such laws in the wake of Friday’s mass shooting in Aurora, Colo.
Loop21.com’s Keli Goff said the NRA’s is to blame.
“Apparently we have four branches of government, not three—the executive, judicial, legislative and the NRA,” Goff said. “That seems to be the fourth branch of government that’s running things in this country. Neither party, including President Obama, has the courage to go toe to toe with them.” Goff said gun rights supporters have been trying to put off a conversation about gun safety with warnings not to politicize the tragedy. “They’re counting on the fact that we’re going to say this is not the right time to talk about this,” Goff said. “When are we allowed to talk about it, if not now?”
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