Gallup polls Americans on gun laws, climate change and holiday spending

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

There is massive support, 86 percent, for universal background gun check laws with a federal registry, though most Americans are not convinced that new gun laws would prevent mass shootings. Over half say “a little” or “not at all”, while only 19 percent say “a great deal.” At the same time, 55 percent of Americans say gun laws should be “more strict” whereas 33 percent would like to see it kept as is.

World are leaders meeting in Paris this week in an attempt to work out an agreement for dealing with climate change. Though Americans at-large don’t embrace the world leaders’ sense of urgency about the issue.

Although predictions differ on the overall level of holiday shopping this year, one thing we know is that our self-reported estimate of shopping this past Saturday through Monday is the highest we have measured since we began tracking in 2008. Plus, Americans’ estimates of their total spending are up significantly this year.