The results of a national survey by the Rasmussen polling firm says most Americans “believe stricter enforcement of existing (gun) laws would do more to reduce violent crime” than passing new laws.
Gun rights advocates suggest the poll shows that Joe Biden and his Democrat colleagues in Congress may be out of touch with the public.
According to the survey, 63 percent of American adults support the notion of stricter enforcement of existing laws while only 28 percent think the country needs more laws.
Alan Gottlieb, founder and executive vice president of the Second Amendment Foundation reacted to the Rasmussen survey observing, “the American majority and Joe Biden are on different tracks.”
Another revealing poll finding was that 63 percent of identified Democrats need stricter gun laws than we already have, while 69 percent of Republicans and 53 percent of Independents “say the country doesn’t need stricter gun laws.”
At the same time, according to Rasmussen data, “Majorities of every political affiliation – 51% of Republicans, 77% of Democrats and 60% of the unaffiliated – think the United States needs stricter enforcement of existing gun laws.
“But Democrats are more than twice as likely as other Americans to think new gun laws would do more than enforcement of existing laws to reduce gun violence,” Rasmussen said.
“It is disappointing, but not surprising that 63 percent of Democrats want stricter gun control laws,” said SAF’s Gottlieb, “suggesting the party may be out of touch with the majority of Americans as well.”
Only 25 percent of identified Republicans and 37 percent of Independents think the country needs tougher gun laws.
The Rasmussen survey results appeared a few days after Biden visited New York City to push gun control as a strategy for reducing gun-related crime in the Big Apple.
“Joe Biden’s push for gun control is a dud,” Gottlieb said. “To quote the popular song ‘Where Have All the Flowers Gone’ by Peter, Paul and Mary, ‘When will they ever learn?’ Biden is old enough to remember the folk trio, but we’re not sure if he actually does.”
SAF has lately been running a 60-second message on several cable networks, warning listeners about Biden’s gun control agenda. The advertisement includes a clip of the president’s now-infamous acknowledgement that he not only wants to ban semiautomatic rifles, but also 9mm handguns.
Biden also wants to repeal the Protection of Lawful Commerce in Arms Act, a federal law passed during the George W. Bush administration. It protects firearms manufacturers and retailers from “junk” lawsuits, which the gun prohibition lobby and anti-gun municipalities had used in the late 1990s and early 2000s in an effort to bankrupt gun manufacturing companies.
In another Rasmussen survey, done in cooperation with the National Police Association, 58 percent of likely voters “believe a law permitting an appointed state oversight committee with the ability to remove state attorneys from office if they won’t prosecute violent crimes would improve safety. Just 21% disagree, while another 20% are not sure.”
