Poll: Americans Blame Gov’t For School-Shooting Failure in Florida

Almost 60 percent of adults blame government failures, not a lack of gun control, for the failure to prevent the school shooting at Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida, according to a Rasmussen poll of 1,000 adults.

The pollster asked:

Which is more to blame for the mass shooting at the Florida high school? The failure of government agencies to respond to numerous warning signs? The lack of adequate gun control?

Fifty-four percent of all adults blamed government failures, while 33 percent blamed the lack of gun control. Eleven percent says “something else.”

The 54 percent blaming government included 56 percent of men, 44 percent of African-Americans, 76 percent of Republicans, 36 percent of Democrats, and 57 percent of people with adults at home.

The highest-ranking subgroups in the 33 percent who blame the lack of gun control were 50 percent of Democrats, 48 percent of people who earn more than $200,000 per year, and 36 percent of unmarrieds.

Rasmussen reported that “Ninety percent (90%) of all Americans say they have been following news reports about the Florida killings at least somewhat closely, with 53% who have been following Very Closely.”

The survey was conducted on February 25-26, 2018 by Rasmussen Reports. The margin of sampling error is 3 percentage points with a 95 percent level of confidence. The polling was conducted by Pulse Opinion Research.