A recent CNN/ORC poll revealed that a majority of American adults doubt that expanded background checks – so-called “universal background checks” (UBCs) – would prevent criminals or people with mental health problems from obtaining firearms.
That same survey by ORC International, of 1,012 adults in early September, showed that 59% of the respondents disapprove of the way President Obama is handling gun policy, while 35% approve and 5% have no opinion. That result shows a decline in support for the president’s gun policies since a similar poll in June.
The CNN/ORC poll included interviews with 930 registered voters.
Forty-one percent of those surveyed believe current laws make it too easy to purchase firearms, while 49 percent think the current gun laws are “about right.” That’s a considerable loss of ground for those who think current gun laws are too weak, because a month after the Sandy Hook tragedy, 56% felt it was too easy to buy a gun.
More telling about the divide between Democrats and Republicans on the gun issue is that 65% of Republicans believe gun laws are “about right” while only 28% of acknowledged Democrats agree.
CNN reported that 56% of the respondents doubt that expanded gun laws would prevent people with mental health problems from getting guns, and 58% think such laws are unlikely to prevent convicted criminals from getting firearms.
At the same time, 57% suggested that it would not necessarily make it more difficult for law-abiding citizens without mental health problems from getting firearms, either.
There’s also a contrast between men and women about whether existing gun laws make it too easy for people to buy guns. Only 30% of the male respondents think so, while 52% of women believe so. On the other hand, 57% of the men think the current laws are “about right” while only 41% of the women think so.
