As we know, support for tougher gun-control laws has been in the news and in the public-opinion ascent. A recent poll conducted by the Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research found that approximately seven in 10 adults now favor stricter gun-control measures. And that, we have been reminded by the AP, is the strongest level of such support since the AP first polled this question five years ago. It made for encouraging headlines. Progress.
Context, however, cannot be ignored.
This also means that in the aftermath of Parkland, Pulse, Las Vegas, Sandy Hook, et al, nearly a third of adults still, somehow, don’t favor stricter gun control measures. Overall, the poll also showed that 90 percent of Democrats and 50 percent of Republicans now favor stricter gun controls. Put another way, half the GOPsters still–STILL–don’t side with common sense and public safety. But still “progress,” to be sure.