A majority of Americans — including large majorities of Republicans, independents, whites and men — said they disapprove of the way President Barack Obama is handling gun policy, according to a CNN/ORC International poll released Monday.
The poll showed that 52 percent of Americans disapprove of Obama’s handling of gun policy, while 45 percent said they approve. A huge majority of 86 percent of Republicans, 60 percent of independents, 61 percent of men and 61 percent of white Americans said they disapprove of Obama on the issue.
But the President drew support on the issue from his own party, along with women and minorities. Eighty-percent of Democrats, 53 percent of women and 65 percent of non-white Americans said they approve of Obama’s handling of gun policy, according to the poll.
Obama earned low marks on guns in the poll even as most other surveys have shown huge public support for a number of policies advocated by the White House, including limits on high-capacity magazines, universal background checks and an assault weapons ban.
There have been other incongruities to emerge in the debate over gun violence. A recent Democratic poll indicated that half of Americans prefer stronger enforcement of current gun laws over new measures, even as those same people revealed that they know very little about the laws that are on the books. A Quinnipiac University poll released in February showed the public split between Obama and congressional Republicans on the question of who would do a better job handling gun policy, yet that same poll showed huge support for gun provisions being pushed by Obama and opposed by much of the GOP.
