Despite CNN's Gun Control Advocacy, Poll Shows Less Than Half of Public 'Angry' or 'Disappointed' at Gun Bill's Failure

April 24th, 2013 12:17 PM

Despite CNN pushing Congress to enact new gun laws, a new poll shows less than half of Americans are "angry" or "disappointed" that last week's gun bill failed in the Senate. In its advocacy, CNN had touted 90 percent of Americans supporting universal background checks.

CNN wanted action taken on guns. Host Piers Morgan led a one-man crusade for gun control since the Newtown shooting, and that the rest of the network had been so friendly to the cause that the gun bill's co-author Sen. Joe Manchin (D-W.Va.) actually thanked them for their "support."

Nevertheless, a new Washington Post/Pew Research poll shows that the public is not in lock step with CNN's agenda. Only 47 percent said they were "angry" or "disappointed" over the gun bill's failure. 39 percent were "very happy" or "relieved" that the bill failed, 10 percent were "indifferent," and three percent had "no opinion." That's a far cry from CNN's recent press release that cited polls to ask, "If 90 percent of Americans support new background checks, how can Congress do nothing?"

And when Gallup recently asked respondents to name "the most important problem facing this country today," only four percent voted "Guns/Gun control." Six issues merited more attention, including the economy, unemployment, federal debt, and "Dissatisfaction with government." Three other issues (immigration, education, North Korea) were tied with guns at four percent.

Meanwhile, Piers Morgan continued his gun control advocacy after the gun bill failed. He promptly took to Twitter and lambasted Senate "cowards" for not voting it through, saying they "disgraced democracy."