The eclectic coalition that helped thrust President Barack Obama to a second term is the same cohort most apt to support new gun control laws, according to the latest United Technologies/National Journal Congressional Connection Poll released Monday evening.
In the poll, 51 percent of respondents said that placing control of gun ownership trumps protecting Second Amendment rights. But the survey also exposed ideological, generational, gender-based, ethnic and regional divisions that mirror the outcome of the 2012 presidential election.
From the National Journal:
In the survey, those same younger Americans, between the ages of 18 and 29, who fueled Obama’s rise and reelection, were the most supportive (56 percent) among all age groups of the focus on stricter gun control.
Similarly, minorities, another key part of the Obama coalition, were overwhelmingly in favor of prioritizing gun control over gun rights, the poll showed. A full 69 percent of nonwhites preferred focusing on gun control; in contrast, 52 percent of whites preferred to focus on protecting the right to own guns.
Obama struggled mightily during 2012 among white men without a college degree; the push for gun control falters with that group, as well. A solid 62 percent of them said the focus should be on gun rights.
The poll found that the gun-control movement has made inroads among one key swing constituency that Obama and Romney fought hard to win over: educated white women. Two-thirds of white women with a college degree said they preferred to focus on gun control; 30 percent favored focusing on gun rights.
Overall, there was an enormous gender gap: 55 percent of men prioritized protecting gun-owners’ rights; only 35 percent of women felt that way.
