Americans Divided on How to Address Gun Violence

The Washington Post-ABC News survey, released Monday, finds an nearly even split on gun laws versus gun rights, with 46 percent saying new laws to cut gun violence should be a bigger priority, and 47 percent saying it’s more important to protect the right to own arms.

Overall, Americans agree that gun violence is a severe problem for the countrym with 82 percent combined considering it “very” or “somewhat” serious.

An April 2013 poll – commissioned by the same publications four months after the deadly Sandy Hook shootings – showed 91 percent support for background checks at gun shows, which not all states require.

Sixty-three percent of respondents said that mass shootings could be primarily attributed to poor treatment of mental health problems, while 23 percent blamed inadequate gun control.

The public’s mixed views on gun laws – despite continued overwhelming support for expanding background checks and other specific policies – have vexed policymakers on an issue that the vast majority regard as a national problem.

A majority of Americans think that inadequate mental health care, rather than lax gun laws, is to blame for mass shootings, according to a new Washington Post/ABC News poll. This question marks a shift towards more support for gun owners’ rights since 2013.

Hundreds of mass shootings have already occurred in 2015.

But while many have called for stricter gun laws in their wake, the Post-ABC poll finds far more point to problems treating people with mental health issues. Nine people were killed and the gunman left dead in one of the latest mass shooting incidents, October 1 at Umpqua Community College in Roseburg, Oregon.

Among people who see mass shootings as a mental health issue, 30 percent prioritize enacting new anti-gun violence laws, while 62 percent prefer protecting gun rights.

Republicans tend to say mental health reform can help solve mass shootings, while Democrats say gun control is needed but that shouldn’t stop a mental health bill that could do a few good in its own right.

In two years, the share of Republicans favoring gun rights instead of new legislation jumped from 58 percent to 71 percent, the Washington Post reported. That dips to 45 percent in suburban areas and to 33 percent among those in rural parts of the country.