Pulse: Americans want gun control measures

Thursday, March 15, 2018 - 21:01 StudyHall.Rocks

Americans want stronger gun control measures.

Hoisting anti-gun signs and chanting, "enough," thousands of students across the nation walked out of school yesterday, marking the passage of a month since 17 students and administrators were killed in a shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida.

     Even the Nickelodeon network announced that it was going off the air for 17 minutes in support of the protest. The students flooded athletic fields and sidewalks in scenes reminiscent of 1960s protests of the Vietnam War. They will again gather in Washington later this month in a protest calling for stricter gun laws.
     But a White House proposal released earlier this week retreated from tough measures President Donald Trump advocated last month. "I will be strongly pushing Comprehensive Background Checks with an emphasis on Mental Health," he tweeted on Feb. 22. "Raise age to 21 and end sale of Bump Stocks! Congress is in a mood to finally do something on this issue - I hope!"
      The new proposal calls only for a commission headed by Secretary of Education Betsy DeVos to study some of those ideas, including whether the minimum age to purchase firearms to should be 21. The proposal includes a plan to train and arm school staff. Additionally, according to a White House news release, the "administration will support the transition of military veterans and retired law enforcement into new careers in education." Trump also favors legislation strengthening background checks.
While gun control advocates want strengthened background checks, a New York Times investigation found that most guns used in 19 recent mass shootings were bought legally and with a federal background check. And consider that in 2012 Adam Lanza shot children and teachers at Sandy Hook Elementary in Connecticut with guns purchased by his mother, also shot and killed.
      Trump's plan does not suggest banning assault rifles, the weapons used in attacks at Stoneman Douglas and Sandy Hook.
      Even so, the fact that legislators are considering action on gun control reflects a shift in the national mood. In various surveys, Americans indicate that they want gun control measures. In 2017, the Pew Research Center found that 55 percent of Americans oppose allowing teachers and officials to carry guns in K-12 schools. And a recent PBS survey found:

Most Americans -- 82 percent -- support raising the legal age from 18 to 21 at which a person can buy a gun.
72 percent said they supported banning assault-style weapons. And 73 percent support a ban of high-capacity ammunition magazines that hold more than 10 rounds.
Nine out of 10 Americans -- 94 percent -- support requiring background checks for all gun buyers.
Three-quarters of those polled said gun laws should be stricter than they are today. In October 2017, NPR asked the same question, and only 68 percent thought gun laws should be stricter.

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