A slight majority of Americans back the gun control package outlined last week by President Barack Obama, according to the latest ABC News/Washington Post poll released Thursday.
But the 53 percent who favor the White House’s proposals is weaker than the level of support those measures received when they were polled separately. For example, an ABC/WaPo poll released earlier this month showed large majorities in support of a reinstatement of an assault weapons ban, background checks for gun sales, a ban on high-capacity amunition magazines and the creation of a federal database for gun sales — all measures laid out by Obama last week.
The latest poll measured “Barack Obama’s proposals for stricter gun control” and, as ABC News noted, the broad wording of the question likely caused partisanship to “kick in.” Forty-one percent of respondents, including 72 percent of Republicans, said they have an unfavorable view of Obama’s proposals. By contrast, a huge majority of Democrats — 76 percent — have a favorable view of Obama’s proposals.
