The majority of voters believe gun violence will increase during President Joe Biden’s tenure, a Politico/Morning Consult poll found Thursday.
When respondents were asked whether they believed “there will be more, fewer, or the same amount of incidence [sic] of gun violence” in the “next few years,” 54 percent said there would be more gun violence during that time, which would be during Biden’s presidency.
Thirty-four percent said gun violence would remain about the same. Only five percent said they believed gun violence would decrease in the next few years.
The polling comes after 19 children and 2 adults were killed in a mass shooting at a Uvalde, Texas, elementary school on Tuesday. The shooter was 18 years of age and old enough to legally purchase a firearm, but broke several gun laws in the act.
The poll also asked voters if they supported the arming of teachers and staff to respond to a school shooting. Fifty-four percent either strongly or somewhat support arming teachers and staff to respond to a school shooting. Just 35 percent either somewhat or strongly oppose the measure.
Thirty-one percent strongly support the measure, while only twenty percent strongly oppose the measure.
Democrats have largely opposed arming teachers and school staff to protect children from school shooters. Instead, many Democrat politicians are proposing to infringe upon the Second Amendment. A Wednesday poll found more voters trust Republicans on gun policy over Democrats by three points.
The poll sampled 1,920 registered voters on May 25 with a margin of error of two percentage points.
Follow Wendell Husebø on Twitter and Gettr @WendellHusebø. He is the author of Politics of Slave Morality.