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After the Uvalde Shooting, Majority of Voters Support Red Flag Laws and Stricter Gun Control
Following the devastating shooting in Uvalde, Texas, Data for Progress conducted polling regarding views on gun reform and proposed gun control policies. At the same time, a bipartisan group of senators released a plan to tackle gun violence through federal reforms, such as implementing red flag laws, closing the “boyfriend loophole,” and raising the age limit to purchase a semiautomatic rifle from 18 to 21. Data for Progress polling finds overwhelming support for these gun reforms.
We find that voters overwhelmingly support red flag laws by a +50-point margin, including Democrats by a +77-point margin, Independents by a +55-point margin, and Republicans by a +21-point margin.
Data for Progress also asked voters about the Uvalde Police Department’s response to the shooting. Uvalde police officers waited outside of Robb Elementary School for 40 minutes while the gunman was inside, and videos from outside the school show officers tackling and tasing parents as they pleaded with the officers to enter the school. When asked about the police's response to the shooting, 83 percent of voters reported that they perceived UPD’s response as “somewhat bad” or “very bad.”
Read the full polling analysis here.
Here are some other highlights from DFP this week:
Voters Are Begging Cancel Culture To Come For Student Debt
Since late February, Data for Progress and Student Borrower Protection Center have conducted six surveys, researching voters’ attitudes on student loans and debt cancellation. Majorities of voters who are borrowers report little confidence in their ability to make loan payments if the payment pause were lifted. Among the entire electorate, we consistently find broad support for loan cancellation, including among majorities of voters with no bachelor’s degrees and voters with no current student loan debt.
Read the full memo here.
Big Tech Is The New Big Tobacco
Cracking down on the largest technology companies in the world, including Google, Amazon, Apple, and Meta (Facebook), has become an increasingly salient issue in D.C. and for voters across the country. Almost all the Big Tech giants are currently subject to multiple lawsuits, federal and state regulation, and antitrust investigations both in the U.S. and around the world.
New Data for Progress polling reveals that voters agree by a +39-point margin (63 percent agree, 24 percent disagree) that Big Tech’s economic power is a problem facing the U.S. economy. That includes a +41-point margin for Independents (62 percent agree, 21 percent disagree) and a +31-point margin for Republicans (59 percent agree, 28 percent disagree).
Read the full polling analysis here and let’s get Elon off Twitter.
More Police Is Not Always The Answer!
Over the past few years, Virginia has made a number of important strides toward reforming its criminal justice system into one that is more effective and more equitable to residents across the state. In line with previous polling in the state, a strong majority of respondents (73 percent of all likely Virginia voters) feel that their communities are just as safe or more safe than they were before the reforms went into effect.
While much of this result is driven by Democrats, 85 percent of whom feel as safe or more safe in their communities, they are also joined by a majority of both Independents (70 percent) and Republicans (62 percent) who agree with the sentiment. Many of the listed reforms have been in place for well over a year, showing that Virginians are not perturbed by the persistent fear mongering around reforms.
Read the full polling analysis here.
Take It To The Streets.
In the months leading up to and following the 2020 election, in the wake of a brutal insurrection and years of racial justice protests, commentators debated whether events like the protests in Kenosha, Wis., jeopardized Joe Biden’s ability to win key swing states in order to reach the necessary Electoral College votes. Evidence was sparse in those debates, and as we near the 2022 midterm elections, it’s crucial for us to contextualize protests and clarify their role with regard to Democratic performance at the ballot box (especially as protests are likely to return over gun violence, abortion access, and LGBTQIA+ rights).
There appears to be no obvious data backing the claim that protests harmed Democrats’ electoral performance, outside of Kenosha. However, we would be remiss in neglecting to state that even if our analysis did show a slight negative impact by protests on Biden’s vote share, that wouldn’t mean protests should all be discouraged.
Read the full polling analysis here and remain vocal about the important issues at stake!
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