The vast majority of Americans are in favor of tougher gun legislation, but have little hope that members of Congress will take action despite a series of recent massacres, according to a poll conducted by the Ipsos Institute on behalf of the agency. and aired yesterday Wednesday.
The poll of a representative sample of 940 Americans, with a margin of error of ± 4%, was conducted the day after the massacre of 19 pupils and two teachers by a teenage gunman in Texas and two weeks before the massacre of 10 people by a young racist in Buffalo, where mostly African Americans live, in New York.
84% of the sample said they were in favor of checking the criminal record of arms buyers, while 70% were in favor of allowing the authorities to ban the sale of weapons to people deemed to pose a threat to public safety.
72% are in favor of raising the age limit to legalize the purchase of weapons from 18 to 21 years.
These ideas were supported by a large majority of supporters of both Republicans and Democrats, a finding consistent with previous polls.
But most do not believe Congress will act. Only 35% said they were confident that members of the US parliament would tighten gun legislation this year, while 49% said they were not at all sure.
65% of the sample agree that so-called mass shootings – attacks with the use of firearms with four or more victims, in the terminology of US law enforcement agencies – are so numerous in the US due to the wide availability of weapons.
However, Americans are divided over the policies that are already being implemented in many states and have turned weapons into part of everyday life. 54% thought that carrying a weapon was the best way to protect themselves from attack, while 45% were in favor of the idea of ​​teaching teachers or members of the school staff to carry a weapon.
43% believe that law-abiding citizens should be able to carry weapons in church, at work or in shops. 69% are in favor of legislation that would allow the issuance of firearms licenses provided that the weapons remain hidden.
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