Majorities in Fox News poll favor stricter guns laws, think Congress won't act

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last updated 26 March 2018

A majority of Americans voters favor stricter guns laws, from 91 percent who back universal background checks to the 60 percent who want a ban on assault rifles and semiautomatic weapons, according to a Fox News poll released Sunday. By a 53 percent to 40 percent margin, voters said protecting people against gun violence is more important than protecting gun rights, though people in gun-owning households disagreed with that statement by a margin of 57 percent to 37 percent. Voters in gun households were split on banning assault rifles, with 50 percent opposed and 47 percent in favor.

A 57 percent majority of all voters oppose letting teachers and school officials carry guns on school grounds, an increase from 2013, though 69 percent of respondents favored putting armed guards in schools. Overall, 38 percent of voters said it is extremely important for Congress to pass gun legislation, versus 20 percent who said it isn't important at all; 7 percent said it is extremely likely Congress will pass gun legislation, while 43 percent said that's not at all likely.

A 54 majority of voters disapprove of President Trump's position on guns — though 34 percent say he's too close to the gun lobby and 13 percent say he's too supportive of gun control — and the NRA's favorability is slipping among gun-owning households (67 percent, from 71 percent in 2013) and all voters, 49 percent of whom have a positive opinion of the NRA and 45 of whom disapprove, down from 56 percent favorability in January 2013. The poll was conducted March 18-21, before Saturday's March for our Lives, by Anderson Robbins Research (D) and Shaw & Company Research (R) among a random national sample of 1,014 registered voters. It has a margin of error of ±3 percentage points.

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Peter has worked as a news and culture writer and editor at The Week since the site's launch in 2008. He covers politics, world affairs, religion and cultural currents. His journalism career began as a copy editor at a financial newswire and has included editorial positions at The New York Times Magazine, Facts on File, and Oregon State University.