New Poll: Voters Support Expanding Community Violence Intervention as a Strategy to Address Gun Violence
62% of voters prefer increasing resources for community violence intervention over increasing the presence of law enforcement
August 8, 2022 — Gun violence is more prevalent in the United States than in any other developed nation and has now become the leading cause of death for children in this country. New polling from Data for Progress shows American voters differ greatly along lines of racial identity and political parties in how they feel about gun violence and solutions.
Surprisingly, over 81% of likely American voters polled view gun violence as an issue our nation can reduce “if we really want to,” while only 11% of voters polled believe that “we have to accept gun violence as a reality.”
Among all likely voters, 61% report feeling “very concerned” about gun violence across the nation. When asked about their concern about gun violence "in their community,” a third of all likely voters say they are “very” concerned. However, voters of color are significantly more likely to report being very concerned about violence in their own communities. Fifty-one percent of Black voters and 53% of Hispanic voters feel “very” concerned about gun violence in their communities, while just 29% of white voters say they are “very” concerned about gun violence in their communities.
Read the full results of the poll here.
Regarding solutions to gun violence, a clear majority of voters (57%) think Congress should pass more gun safety laws. After being informed about community violence intervention (CVI) and asked if they believe Congress should provide more or less funding for those programs or if there has already been enough funding, 64% of voters said they want Congress to provide more funding for community violence intervention.
“Cities across the US have seen significant increases in violence throughout the COVID-19 pandemic, particularly in communities of color, and are looking for public investment in effective solutions,” says Fatimah Loren Dreier, Executive Director of the Health Alliance for Violence Intervention (The HAVI), a national organization working in 85 cities across the country to build a network of hospital-based violence intervention programs (HVIPs) and serves as one of the lead technical assistance providers for The White House Community Violence Intervention Collaborative (CVIC), an initiative which supports a cohort of 16 jurisdictions committed to using public funding to scale and strengthen their community violence intervention infrastructure.
“It is clear that the public is beginning to recognize community violence intervention strategies, including HVIPs, as critical elements of public safety. By implementing these public health strategies as a complement to accountable law enforcement, cities can create an ecosystem of data-driven practices that can drive down violence and address violence at its root," added Dreier, whose organization will bring hundreds of health care professionals, frontline violence intervention workers, government officials, and policy experts together in November for its 13th annual conference, Going Further, Together: Building the CVI Ecosystem.
Read the full results of the poll here.
We also asked voters what they believe is responsible for the prevalence of gun violence in America. Forty-six percent say gun violence is due to a failure to address the root causes of it — poverty, trauma, and mental health — meanwhile, 39% say it is due to the availability of guns, and 10% say it is due to weak policing.
Additionally, we asked if voters prefer increasing resources for community violence intervention or increasing the presence of law enforcement to address gun violence in communities, and a majority responded that they prefer the former. Also, 62% of voters agree that we should provide more resources to community violence intervention workers to stay in touch with victims of violence long-term and connect them to support programs like job readiness and housing.
About Data for Progress
Data for Progress is a progressive think tank and polling firm, which arms movements with data-driven tools to fight for a more equitable future. DFP provides polling, data-based messaging, and policy generation for the progressive movement and advises campaigns and candidates with the tools they need to win. DFP polling is regularly cited by the New York Times, the Washington Post, and hundreds of other trusted news organizations.
Learn more at dataforprogress.org or follow DFP on Twitter at @dataprogress.