{"id":17678,"date":"2019-08-24T00:18:30","date_gmt":"2019-08-24T00:18:30","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.lifeandnews.com\/articles\/?p=17678"},"modified":"2019-08-25T05:54:53","modified_gmt":"2019-08-25T05:54:53","slug":"increasing-numbers-of-americans-support-gun-background-checks","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.lifeandnews.com\/articles\/increasing-numbers-of-americans-support-gun-background-checks\/","title":{"rendered":"Increasing numbers of Americans support gun background checks"},"content":{"rendered":"

Kent E. Portney<\/a>, Texas A&M University <\/a><\/em> and Carol L. Goldsmith<\/a>, Texas A&M University <\/a><\/em><\/p>\n

In the aftermath of the shootings in El Paso, Texas, and Dayton, Ohio, public debate once again turned to what Congress should do to reduce gun violence.<\/p>\n

One of the challenges that many policymakers face is understanding the views of the general public. Policymakers tend to be most concerned<\/a> about the magnitude and intensity of the opposition to stricter gun regulation.<\/p>\n

In late 2016, my research team<\/a> surveyed 1,115 adults<\/a> twice, six months apart. We discovered that the number of Americans supporting stricter background checks<\/a> for gun purchases is growing, and it is growing most among people who previously opposed or were neutral about such regulation.<\/p>\n

Views on guns, six months apart<\/h2>\n

We asked respondents whether they remembered nine specific acts or attempted acts of violence targeting large numbers of people in the U.S., from the Sandy Hook Elementary School shootings in 2012 up to the bombings in New York and New Jersey in 2016<\/a>.<\/p>\n