The Ideological Divide on Gun Regulation: Polling data help explain why federal lawmakers could agree on compromise legislation to combat mass shootings.

• Author: Viscusi, W. Kip

The mass shootings earlier this year that killed 10 people at a Buffalo, New York, supermarket and 19 children and two teachers at an elementary school in Uvalde, Texas, have renewed interest in legislation to combat these crimes. Mass shootings, which are defined as incidents in which firearms are used to shoot or kill at least four victims excluding the shooter, have increased in frequency in recent decades, garnering massive media attention and provoking public concern. The increased public concern led federal lawmakers to agree to a package of gun regulations this summer.

Mass shootings are responsible for only a very small percentage of the deaths caused by gun violence in the United States, but most gun regulations motivated by a concern with mass shootings likely would have broader effects on gun violence generally. They would also likely affect lawful gun ownership and use. Accordingly, political ideology plays a role in gun regulation efforts, as supporters of gun rights usually muster opposition to these measures while gun rights skeptics push for them.

This article examines survey results on how ideology and vulnerability affect attitudes toward gun regulation. It finds that ideology is more of a driver of differences in these views than the personal risk of gun violence. Nonetheless, the survey data find majority support among opposed political groups for some gun regulations--including some of the regulations incorporated in the new federal legislation.

SURVEY

In May 2021, I used Amazon's Mechanical Turk crowdsourcing website to survey Americans on their attitudes toward gun policy. The 704 respondents analyzed here considered a series of questions on their support or opposition to various regulations often proposed to combat mass shootings. The general form of these questions is reflected in this one regarding assault weapons and ammunition magazines: "Would you favor a ban on assault weapons and high-capacity magazines if these measures would reduce deaths from mass shootings?"

The survey also considered three other types of proposals. One would make it easier for legal authorities to read mail, email, social media posts, and tap phones without a person's knowledge provided that it was related to preventing mass shootings, which for succinctness I will refer to as "surveillance." Such efforts don't affect direct control of gun ownership but may help to identify impending threats.

Another proposal would broaden comprehensive background checks on prospective...