A Washington Post- Pew Research poll finds that Americans are far less "angry" than Barack Obama, gun control liberal politicians and pundits over the Senate's rejection of expanded background checks, gun bans and large capacity ammunition and other gun control measures.
Not so much, according to a new Washington Post-Pew Research Center poll. Yes, a plurality (47 percent) describe themselves as either “angry” or “disappointed” about the failure of the gun legislation, but 39 percent call themselves “relieved” or “happy” about what happened. That’s a far cry from the 90-ish percent support that expanding background checks — the centerpiece of the proposed legislation — enjoyed.
And, among those who said they were “very closely” keeping tabs on the vote, the split was even closer; 48 percent said they were angry/disappointed while 47 percent were relieved or happy. (That piece of data is indicative of the passion gap on the issue between those supporting gun rights and those pushing for more restrictions.)
The two charts below show what segments of the voting population are the most angry and most happy over the gun control legislation's failure to pass the Senate.
Breakdown by Party:
Democrats: 22 percent very happy/relieved, 67 percent were disappointed/angry, 9 percent none/other and 3 percent with no opinion.
Independents: 48 percent very happy/relieved, 41 percent disappointed/angry, 8 percent none/other and 3 percent with no opinion.
Republicans: 51 percent very happy/relieved, 34 percent disappointed/angry, 11 percent none/other and 4 percent with no opinion.
Bottom line, Americans were more passionate about protecting their constitutional right to bear arms than those that wanted to infringe on those rights with gun control.