President Joe Biden speaks to families of the Buffalo shooting victims on May 17th, 2022
President Joe Biden speaks to families of the Buffalo shooting victims on May 17th, 2022 / Screenshot

Poll: Biden Approval on Guns Falls Below 30 Percent

Americans are unhappy with how President Joe Biden has handled gun policy.

On Wednesday, Yougov and The Economist released a poll indicating just 29 percent of Americans approve of Biden’s performance on guns. That’s down seven points from the last time the poll was conducted in February. 54 percent disapproved of his performance, up four points from the previous poll.

The latest results, taken from a poll conducted between March 24th and the 26th, put Biden at his lowest approval rating on guns since last summer.

Biden’s poor marks are gun policy come as he continues to pursue an agenda of restricting access to firearms. He doubled down on his goal of implementing new gun bans in his State of the Union address and opened a first-of-its-kind office dedicated to expanding “Red Flag” gun confiscation policies at the state level this month.

ā€œIā€™m demanding a ban on assault weapons and high-capacity magazines,ā€ Biden said in his State of the Union address.

His decision not to tack to the middle on guns and subsequent declining approval numbers could make an already challenging re-election campaign more difficult.

President Biden has been willing to work across the aisle on gun policy during his first term, culminating in the 2022 Bipartisan Safer Communities Act. But that act didn’t include the big-ticket policies gun-control activists have long sought, such as a ban on AR-15s or ammunition magazines that hold more than 10 rounds. At the same time, Biden has pursued multiple ATF bans on firearms or parts popular among enthusiasts, such as pistol braces and unfinished frames and receivers. That approach appears to have left either side of the issue unhappy with the outcome.

Disapproval of Biden’s handling of gun policy cuts across gender, race, age, and income.

However, the political breakdown looks more typical of Biden’s approval on most issues. Just five percent of Republicans and 24 percent of independents approve of Biden’s handling of guns. He fares better with voters from his own party, with 56 percent approving. But even a quarter of Democrats disapprove of Biden’s handling of guns.

At the same time, the vast majority of Americans said they viewed guns as a vital issue. 81 percent of respondents said the issue was important to them, with 56 percent saying it was very important. Six percent said it was their most important issue. That put it below issues like inflation, immigration, and climate change. But it put it ahead of issues like abortion, education, and national security.

Additionally, Biden’s marks on gun policy were significantly lower than his overall approval rating. 38 percent of respondents said they approved of Biden’s overall job as president, nine points better than they rated his handling of guns.

The gun issue was among Biden’s worst in the poll. Respondents only gave him lower marks on how he has handled immigration, with just 27 percent approving.

Yougov and The Economist conducted the web-based poll among 1,594 American adults. It has a margin of error of 3.4 percent.

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Created by potrace 1.16, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2019

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Created by potrace 1.16, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2019

Comments From Reload Members

2 Responses

  1. The “approve of” polls are very frequently misleading – the Democrats disapprove because Biden is not doing ENOUGH, and the Republicans disapprove because he is doing TOO MUCH.

    1. Yes, that’s likely part of the dynamic at play here. Still, it indicates his approach has failed to really please anyone at this point. That’s a problem for his reelection campaign, which is significant since he doesn’t show signs of changing his approach.

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