Colorado's Recall Election on Gun Control

A recent Pew Research Center report in FacTank, on the recall election in Colorado on Tuesday, September 10, analyst, Drew DeSilver said that the successful election against two Democratic state senators, one of whom was the president of the state senate, shows the divide in the electorate on the gun control issue. The data upon which the findings are based are taken from monthly opinions polls fielded by Pew Research Center for the People and the Press. The most recent survey was taken from May 1 to May 5, 2013 of a national sample of 1,504 adult Americans by landline and cell phone interviews. 

The chart shows the change in response to the question "Which do you this is more important: to control gun ownership or to protect the rights of Americans to own guns?" After the school shooting in Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, CT, in December, 2012, public opinion for protecting gun rights dropped slightly from 46% to 42% but has since grown to 48% with public opinion in support of gun control remaining roughly at 50%.  

Pew Research Center for the People and the Press offers these data in an interactive chart tool which allows the user view them in a line chart with a demographic variable that they select.   The tool can be reached through TeachingWithData.org  at http://themostsearched.org/resource/3888 .

Read more:
http://www.pewresearch.org/
http://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/
http://www.pewresearch.org/author/ddesilver/
http://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2013/09/11/colorado-recall-points-to-greater-intensity-among-gun-rights-supporters/
http://www.people-press.org/files/legacy-pdf/5-23-13%20Gun%20Policy%20Release.pdf
http://www.people-press.org/
http://themostsearched.org/
http://themostsearched.org/resource/3888

Young Americans Oppose Internet Sales Tax

In a recent Gallup poll, the majority of Americans (57%) say they would vote against a law that would allow each state to collect sales taxes on purchases its residents make online over the Internet. Young adults (73%) voice the most widespread opposition to such a law.

The Senate passed an Internet sales tax bill, the Marketplace Fairness Act, last month on a bipartisan basis, but it has yet to pass the House. This legislation would allow states to require online sellers to collect sales taxes, which would go to state and local governments. The legislation would apply to online retailers earning at least $1 million in sales outside of states where they have brick-and-mortar locations. Currently, online retailers do not have to collect sales taxes on Internet purchases unless they have a physical presence in the state.

This legislation faces more opposition in the House than it did in the Senate, with numerous members, including House Speaker John Boehner, criticizing it. The White House has announced that the president supports the legislation.

Age largely shapes Americans' views on taxing Internet sales. Younger Americans are much more likely than older Americans to oppose such a law. If Republicans in the House oppose the Internet sales tax bill, that may help the GOP's appeal to younger Americans, a key demographic in the party's plans to build support before the 2014 and 2016 elections.