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The Water Cooler Title: Obama Lauded on Response to Tucson; 78 Percent Approve of Obama's Response, GOP Gets More of the Blame GOP Gets More of the Blame The survey more generally finds blame for the political tone spread across a variety of groups. Half the public says the Tea Party political movement and its supporters, as well as political commentators on both side of the ideological divide, have "crossed the line" in terms of attacking the other side. Forty-five percent say the Republican Party and its supporters have done the same; fewer, 39 percent, say so about the Democratic Party and its supporters, reflecting the Democrats' continued broader allegiance overall. On all of these, there are sharp divides politically and ideologically, as detailed below. Response Specifically, in terms of the Jan. 8 shootings, 78 percent of Americans, as noted, approve of Obama's response, and 51 percent approve "strongly." That's the highest rating on a single issue Obama has received during his presidency, although he had 80 percent approval just before taking office for his handling of the transition. While these are rare ratings, other presidents have gone as high or higher on specific issues: George W. Bush for handling terrorism, Bill Clinton for his transition, George H. W. Bush for handling the Persian Gulf War and Ronald Reagan for a 1987 summit with the Soviets. Far fewer Americans but still more than half, 53 percent, approve of the way the news media have responded to the Tucson shootings. Trailing these, 30 percent approve of the way Palin has responded, with 14 percent "strongly" approving. Forty-six percent instead disapprove of Palin's response, in which she rejected as "blood libel" suggestions that the tone of political discourse may have contributed to the attack. A substantial 24 percent have no opinion. Guns Fifty-two percent of Americans in this survey favor stricter gun control laws in general; 45 percent are opposed. That fairly close division is a shift from before fall 2008. In 2006 and 2007 alike, for instance, 61 percent supported stricter gun control. The decrease in support may have been associated with the impending election of a Democratic president and Congress. The 9-point drop in support for gun control from 2007 to now is mirrored in views specifically on banning semi-automatic handguns, which automatically re-load each time the trigger is squeezed. Fifty-five percent supported banning such weapons then, compared with 48 percent now. Likewise, there has been a 7-point decline in support for banning the sale of handguns overall, from 38 percent in 2007 to 31 percent now. Women, Dems Favor More Gun Control Views on gun control tend not to shift in tandem with highly publicized gun crimes. As well as continuing that precedent, these results reflect two basic sentiments: broad agreement that the Constitution guarantees a right of gun ownership, and a general preference -- by 57-29 percent in this survey -- for better enforcement of existing laws rather than creation of new ones. As noted, there are specific gun control items that win favor; not only do 57 percent support banning high-capacity ammunition clips, 46 percent lean that way "strongly," far outstripping strong opposition, 29 percent. As is typical, support for more gun control legislation in general, and nationwide bans on semi-automatic weapons, handguns and high-capacity clips in particular, is higher among women than among men, among Democrats than Republicans and among liberals than conservatives. Support for all except banning handguns entirely also is higher among college-educated adults. Gun ownership is a factor in overall sentiment. Forty-four percent of Americans say they or someone in their household owns a gun. In this group, 34 percent support stricter laws overall; that rises to 68 percent in non-gun households. Registry Most striking is support for greater efforts to keep guns out of the hands of people who've been treated for mental illness or drug abuse. After the Virginia Tech attack, 83 percent supported a law requiring states to report mentally ill people to the gun registry database. In this survey, even in a time of sensitivity about the deficit, an identical 83 percent support increased federal funding to make this happen. Sixty-three percent support the proposal strongly, an unusual level of strong sentiment. And overall support includes 87 percent of gun owners and political conservatives, as well as broad majorities in other groups. As noted, somewhat fewer but still 71 percent also support federal funding to get the names of drugs abusers into the gun registry; nearly half, 49 percent, strongly favor the proposal. Supporters include about two-thirds of gun owners and conservatives alike. The Tucson attack occurred at a constituent event hosted by Rep. Gabrielle Giffords, D-Ariz., who was badly wounded by a gunshot to the head. Six others were killed, a child and the state's top federal judge among them. It has been reported that the alleged gunman was rejected for military service because of suspicions of drug use, and was expelled from community college last fall after erratic behavior raised questions about his psychological state. MORE... Post Comment Private Reply Ignore Thread Top • Page Up • Full Thread • Page Down • Bottom/Latest Begin Trace Mode for Comment # 3.
#1. To: Brian S (#0)
Obama Lauded on Response to Tucson; More See Chance of Political Conciliation You're a little wreckless with the headline, libtard. Are you attempting to incite violence?
Oh hell. I forgot to ping the "More Made Up Article Titles" list. Thanks for the prompting.
There are no replies to Comment # 3. End Trace Mode for Comment # 3.
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