Gallup: Americans weigh in on holiday shopping, death penalty, gun ownership

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     Products at Amazon's Fulfillment Center. (Kimberly Paynter/WHYY)

    Products at Amazon's Fulfillment Center. (Kimberly Paynter/WHYY)

    NewsWorks Tonight host Dave Heller sits down for his weekly conversation with Gallup’s Frank Newport to talk about trends in American opinion.

    U.S. Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia said Tuesday that he wouldn’t be surprised if the Supreme Court ultimately struck down the death penalty. But Gallup’s annual update on attitudes toward the death penalty shows that a clear majority still support it, although that support is down from 20 years ago.

    About four in 10 Americans say they have a gun in the house — although it’s not clear what type of gun that is or whether it’s functional. There are significant differences in this by region.

    Merchants, both brick and mortar, and online, are already looking ahead to the big Christmas shopping season. Amazon said it will hire 25 percent more workers this holiday season than last year. This optimism is borne out by Gallup’s first early signs of how the retail Christmas season is going to shape up.

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    Click the audio player to listen to the interview.

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