A new poll reveals that Democratic and Republican voters similarly believe Congress should prioritize jobs creation and growing the economy instead of focusing on guns and immigration. The voters surveyed placed reducing gun violence and immigration at the bottom of a list of 12 priorities for Congress and the president to address.
The Gallup poll, released Wednesday, shows 86% of voters believe Congress should make its top focus jobs creation, with 86% saying Congress should prioritize work on improving the economy.
Only 55% of the voters surveyed believed reducing gun violence should be a top priority, with 50% saying Congress should focus on immigration reform.
Democrats and Republicans assigned similar priority ratings to various issues, including jobs creation, economy growth, addressing problems with Social Security and Medicare, and reforming the tax code, according to Gallup. Ninety percent of Democratic voters and 84% of Republican voters said creating more jobs should be Congress' top priority.
Democrats give higher priority to reducing poverty and inequality, improving education, and reducing the costs of healthcare, an issue that also topped guns and immigration.
A Justice Department report released on Tuesday said that while gun violence has plummeted nationwide over the past 20 years, guns are still used in the vast majority of homicides. Homicides by guns declined by 39% between 1993 and 2011. But in 2011, a firearm was used in about 70% of all homicides.
The debate on gun violence was put on hold when a compromised background check bill failed in the Senate last month.