Poll: Americans Support Obama Gun Control Initiatives

The majority of Americans support President Obama’s recently announced initiatives on gun control, according to a survey released Thursday, but they are skeptical of the effectiveness the changes will have.

A CNN/ORC poll shows that 67% of Americans are in favor a series of executive actions Obama proposed earlier this week, while 32% are opposed. Obama will expand background checks in an effort to reduce gun violence, while making the process more efficient. The survey coincides with a town hall CNN hosted on Thursday night, where the president engaged with Americans on either side of the issue.

Get our Politics Newsletter. The headlines out of Washington never seem to slow. Subscribe to The D.C. Brief to make sense of what matters most.

Please enter a valid email address.

* The request timed out and you did not successfully sign up. Please attempt to sign up again.

Sign Up Now

An unexpected error has occurred with your sign up. Please try again later.

Check here if you would like to receive subscription offers and other promotions via email from TIME group companies.

You can unsubscribe at any time. By signing up you are agreeing to our Terms of Service and Privacy Policy.

Thank you!

For your security, we've sent a confirmation email to the address you entered. Click the link to confirm your subscription and begin receiving our newsletters. If you don't get the confirmation within 10 minutes, please check your spam folder.

Support for the president crossed party lines, with Democrats (85%), independents (65%) and Republicans (51%) in favor of the measures. Some 57% of gun owners are also in favor.

While support is strong, skepticism about the effectiveness of the president’s executive actions is high—nearly 6 in 10 said the measures will not effectively curb gun-related deaths. This is especially true among gun owners, 75% of which say they didn’t think the changes would be effective.

Read More: Obama Defends Gun Actions at Lively Town Hall

Obama’s approval rating on his handling of gun policy went up following the announcement on Tuesday. He is up 8 points since a late-December CNN/ORC poll, with 43% approval on the issue.

The survey was conducted January 5-6 with a random sample of 1,027 adults. The margin of error for the sample is plus or minus 3 percent.

Contact us at letters@time.com.