Public Support Is Still Strong For Some Stricter Gun Laws

The charts above are from the Pew Research Center. They questioned 10,683 adults between September 24th and October 7th. Their survey has a margin of error of 1.5 points.

While the GOP-controlled Congress refuses to take any action to reduce the number of deaths from guns, the American public agrees on some actions that should be taken.

Americans across the political spectrum believe the loopholes in the background check law for gun sales should be plugged (to include private sales and at gun shows. That's the opinion of 79% of Republicans, 85% of Independents, and 91% of Democrats. And that opinion is shared by both gun owners and non-gun owners in both political parties.

These groups also support preventing those with a mental illness and those on a federal no-fly list from purchasing guns.

So why are these not federal law, since an overwhelming majority of Americans support them? There would be no political price to pay for voting in Congress for these measures. The answer is that most Republicans (and a few Democrats) don't care what the public wants. They have been bought and sold by the gun manufacturers and the NRA (which is currently nothing more than a lobbying group for those manufacturers). It is more important to them to get money from the gun lobby than to save many American lives.