--- title: Americans Now View Gun Violence as a Permanent Part of Life description: A majority of 71% also believe gun violence is now "a permanent part of American life" canonical: https://time.com/4148623/gun-violence-permanent-part-life/ author: Sarah Begley article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2015-12-14T23:23:00.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-02-22T13:22:01.358Z article:section: Politics og:title: Americans Now View Gun Violence as a Permanent Part of Life og:description: A new poll also shows most Americans believe national security should be a top priority. og:url: https://time.com/4148623/gun-violence-permanent-part-life/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt043b2cbcef6f0695/69887552196cf425f2039750/military-us.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 675 og:image:alt: A heavily armed New York city police officer with the Strategic Response Group stands guard at the armed forces recruiting center in New York's Times Square, Saturday, Nov. 14, 2015. Police in New York say they've deployed extra units to crowded areas o og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Americans Now View Gun Violence as a Permanent Part of Life twitter:description: A new poll also shows most Americans believe national security should be a top priority. twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt043b2cbcef6f0695/69887552196cf425f2039750/military-us.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Americans Now View Gun Violence as a Permanent Part of Life by [Sarah Begley](https://time.com/author/sarah-begley/) ## Sarah Begley Dec 14, 2015 11:23 PM UTC  A heavily armed New York City police officer with the Strategic Response Group stands guard at the armed-forces recruiting center in Times Square in New York City on Nov. 14, 2015 A heavily armed New York City police officer with the Strategic Response Group stands guard at the armed-forces recruiting center in Times Square in New York City on Nov. 14, 2015Mary Altaffer—AP by [Sarah Begley](https://time.com/author/sarah-begley/) ## Sarah Begley Dec 14, 2015 11:23 PM UTC A majority of Americans now think that mass shootings and other outbreaks of gun violence are no longer passing incidents, but “a permanent part of American life.” The revelation comes from a new poll that shows Americans are now more [concerned](http://www.wsj.com/articles/poll-finds-national-security-now-a-top-concern-1450130463) about national security and terrorism than they are about the economic growth and job security. A whopping 71% said that gun violence is now a regular occurrence in American life. The poll of 1,000 adults, from the _Wall Street Journal_ and NBC News, found that those who believe national security should be a top priority has grown from 39% eight months ago to 60% as of early December. Those who think the economy should be a top priority have shrunk from 29% to 23% in that time. Despite the belief that gun violence has become more prevalent, more Americans (52%) are concerned that this will lead to excessive new gun-control restrictions than those who fear that the federal government will not do enough to restrict access to firearms (44%). \[[_WSJ_](http://www.wsj.com/articles/poll-finds-national-security-now-a-top-concern-1450130463)\] ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4148623/gun-violence-permanent-part-life/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4148623/gun-violence-permanent-part-life/"},"headline":"Americans Now View Gun Violence as a Permanent Part of Life","datePublished":"2015-12-14T23:23:00.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-22T13:22:01.358Z","description":"Most Americans believe national security should be a top priority","url":"https://time.com/4148623/gun-violence-permanent-part-life/","keywords":["Election 2016"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt043b2cbcef6f0695/69887552196cf425f2039750/military-us.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Sarah Begley","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/sarah-begley/"}],"articleSection":"Politics","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt043b2cbcef6f0695/69887552196cf425f2039750/military-us.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"A heavily armed New York city police officer with the Strategic Response Group stands guard at the armed forces recruiting center in New York's Times Square, Saturday, Nov. 14, 2015. 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