Will gun control measures affect midterm voting? Americans weigh in

NEW YORK CITY – Americans in the Big Apple shared their thoughts on gun control and how the issue would affect their midterm votes.

“Here’s the thing about gun control legislation: It ain’t gonna fix the problem,” Lionel, from Chicago told Fox News. He said mental health issues were behind shootings.

But Karen, from Massachusetts, said she’d consider a political candidate if they had “good ideas on what gun control should look like in this country.”

Gun control became a high-profile issue after a school shooter in Uvalde, Texas, massacred 19 children and two teachers 10 days after a racially motivated gunman killed 10 in a Buffalo grocery store. The incidents led to President Biden signing into law the most sweeping gun control legislation in three decades on Saturday. 

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“I would never vote for a Republican,” Mila, from New York, told Fox News. She said she would consider voting for a Democrat in the midterm election if they were focused on implementing stricter gun control.

Glenn, a New Yorker, said: “It would be nice to know that the candidates have those positions and are oriented that way. But it’s not likely that they will be able to do much.”

A Gallup poll published Thursday found that 55% of registered voters said gun policy was “extremely important” to their November vote, while another 27% said it was “very important.”

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Lucien, from Massachusetts, said he grew up around firearms and “bought a shotgun when he was 14 years old to hunt with.”  

“People didn’t shoot people,” he added.

But Lucien also advocated for “more vigorous background checks.”

“It’s fine to have a gun as long as you can handle it and are sane enough to have one,” he told Fox News.

The bipartisan bill Biden signed enhances background checks and incentivizes states to pass red flag laws that allow firearms to be taken from people who could be a threat to themselves or others.

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“People are going to get guns no matter what,” Lucien said. “Think about what we’ve done with drugs, how that worked out, how prohibition worked out.” 

“You’re not going to get rid of guns, but you just got to be better at the hands you put them in and the people that have them,” Lucien continued. 

Mark, from Boston, said the government needs to ensure “better checks on people that do have access to guns.”

Citizens shouldn’t own guns because “they want to have one for their own personal protection,” he said. “That’s what the police are for.”