Washington – Poll Shows High Marks for Obama on Tucson

Washington – Americans overwhelmingly describe the tone of political discourse in the country as negative, verging on angry, according to a new Washington Post-ABC News poll, but more than half say that the culture did not contribute to the shootings in Tucson that killed six people and wounded 13, including Rep. Gabrielle Giffords (D-Ariz.).

Evaluations of President Obama’s handling of the Jan. 8 tragedy are highly positive across the political spectrum, with nearly eight in 10 giving him high marks for his response to the incident. Even 71 percent of Republicans say they approve of his leadership following the shootings.

After calls from political leaders in both major parties to temper the rhetoric following the massacre, Americans are optimistic that Obama and Republicans in Congress will be able to work together this year on important issues. In the poll, 55 percent said they are optimistic that the two sides will do so, up seven percentage points from an ABC News-Yahoo! News survey taken just before the shootings.

Like similar violent events in the past, the Arizona tragedy did not generate greater support for tougher gun-control measures in general. But a majority in the new poll – 57 percent – said they support a nationwide ban on high-capacity magazine clips of the type used by the shooter in Tucson.

Overall, 52 percent favor stricter gun-control laws, little changed over the past few years and down from where it was after the shootings at Virginia Tech in 2007. Support for new restrictions on the sale of semiautomatic handguns is also down from what it was following the Virginia Tech incident.

About a third – 31 percent – favor a blanket prohibition on the sale of all handguns, except to law enforcement officers, which is comparable to public opinion after the Columbine school shootings in 1999 in Littleton, Colo., and below what it was after Virginia Tech.

The poll found widespread public support for measures that might make it more difficult for people with a history of mental illness or drug abuse to buy firearms.

More than eight in 10 say they would support an increase in federal funding to pay for a system in which people treated for mental illness would be reported to the federal gun registry. Nearly two-thirds say they strongly support such a system. Along the same lines, more than seven in 10 say they would support more funding for a system that would report to the registry people who had been treated for drug abuse.

Jared Loughner, 22, who is charged in the Tucson shootings, was discharged from his community college and told he could not return until he had certification of his mental stability, though he was never institutionalized for mental illness. He was rejected by the Army because of drug use. Neither proved to be an obstacle when he bought the Glock semiautomatic pistol that he allegedly used.

Most Americans – 57 percent – say the best way to reduce gun violence is to enforce existing laws rather than add new ones. Only about one-third of all Americans say enacting new laws is the better approach.

The Tucson shootings sparked a broad public discussion about whether the political dialogue in the country has become too toxic and overheated. In the new poll, Americans are split evenly on the question of whether the tone of political discussion could encourage violence, with about half saying it has not gone that far and the other half saying it could or already has.

Majorities of Americans view political commentators on the left and right as having crossed the line of acceptable rhetoric on political issues, and almost half say so of the tea party movement and its followers.

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