New Poll: Plurality Of Americans Say Stricter Gun Laws Would Not Have Prevented Buffalo Shooting

Attribution ShareAlike 4.0 International (CC BY-SA 4.0) Andre Carrotflower 2/20/22

As America reels from two mass shootings within 10 days, the debate over the nation’s gun laws has begun once again in earnest.

But a new Yahoo News/YouGov poll shows that many Americans are not convinced that new or stricter gun laws are the answer to preventing tragedies like the one in Buffalo, New York.

Results Of The Poll

The poll asked if, “stricter gun laws could have prevented the mass shooting in Buffalo?”

43% of the respondents said no, and 37% said yes. Other notes of interest in the poll, 44% of respondents said that, “there is a way to stop mass shootings in the U.S., but it would require drastic change in laws.”

Another 21% said that mass shootings, “can already be stopped by enforcing the current laws.” And there was a bleak outlook by others at 20% who said that, “there is no way to stop” mass shootings.

A total of 68% of respondents, including 56% of Republicans said they were in favor of criminal and mental health background checks.

Of those polled, just five percent said that guns would be an important issue for them in November.

Gun Legislation In Congress

Prior to the tragedies in Buffalo and Uvalde, there has been gun legislation that has passed through the House but is stalled in the Senate. HR 1446 would seek to close the “3 day proceed to sale” provision, which the NRA describes as allowing gun dealers to transfer firearms to an individual if their background check hasn’t been completed in three days.

House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer plans put the Federal Extreme Risk Protection Order Act up for a vote the week after lawmakers return from a Memorial Day recess. This bill is a federal “red flag” law, which would allow the government to seize firearms from people who have been determined a “threat” but not convicted of any crime.

The passage of gun legislation has Democrats once again arguing for elimination of the filibuster. But with continued opposition by Sens. Joe Manchin (D-WV) and Kyrsten Sinema (D-AZ), that’s unlikely.

Continued Politicization

As Democrats continue to politicize the shootings in Buffalo and Uvalde in an effort to use them as campaign fodder for November, President Joe Biden announced that he and First Lady Jill Biden would make an upcoming trip to Uvalde to meet with families.

But it may be too little too late. According to Breitbart, another poll, a Politico/Morning Consult poll, respondents were asked who they, “trust more to handle” more on the issue of guns in America. Respondents said they trusted Republicans over Democrats by a margin of 44% to 41%.

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Becky Noble

Becky Noble, a political blogger and writer for over 10 years, lives by the motto, “Being normal is not necessarily a virtue. It rather denotes a lack of courage.” Her work has appeared on PolitiChicks, TheBlackSphere, NewsNinja2012.com, Examiner.com, and more. Becky is currently a Journalism student in her senior year at Regent University.