President Obama will dwell dramatically and perhaps conveniently on gun control during a much ballyhooed appearance with jittery youngsters on Wednesday, prompting talk radio host Laura Ingraham to ponder the president’s onetime claims that children should be left out of politics.
Despite all the White House staging, the topic does not appear to weigh heavily on the minds of most Americans at the moment, however.
“Four percent of Americans name issues relating to guns and gun control as the nation’s top problem,” says Gallup director Frank Newport.
“Americans’ concerns about the federal budget deficit and government dysfunction rose high enough in January to knock unemployment out of the top two slots on Gallup’s “most important problem” list for the first time since 2009,” he notes in a new poll, which places “the eocnomy in general” as the most often cited concern, followed by the federal budget and dissatisfaction with government.
Gun issues are seventh on the list behind unemployment, “lack of money” and taxes. (www.gallup.com)
