Poll: The last two weeks have convinced Americans gun reform might be possible

Why Parkland could be different. No Images? Click here         The Last 2 Weeks Have Convinced Americans Gun Reform Could Happen​ Polling in the aftermath of a mass shooting in the U.S. usually follows a well-worn pattern. The first surveys, conducted with the tragedy still flashing across TV screens, show a brief uptick in concern about gun violence, and maybe a spike in the national appetite for tighter firearm restrictions. Then, as soon as the story fades from the headlines, the increase is gone. This time looks different. A HuffPost/YouGov survey taken immediately after the Feb. 14 school shooting in Parkland, Florida, found the same familiar uptick. But in the days since, the numbers have continued to shift in favor of congressional action on guns. There’s also a rising belief that Congress could actually take such action. The deaths of 17 students and staff members Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School ― and the surge of activism that’s followed, led by surviving classmates ― have, the polling suggests, moved the national debate in a way that last year’s shootings at a Las Vegas concert and a Texas church did not. Americans now say by a nearly a two-to-one margin, 50 percent to 26 percent, that it’s politically possible to pass stricter gun laws ― a high in polling since 2015, and a remarkable swing from less than two weeks ago, when just 38 percent saw it as feasible. READ MORE     WHAT ELSE IS HAPPENING? The growing list of Trump administration departures will make your head spin. When White House Communications Director Hope Hicks resigned on Wednesday, she was only the the latest of a series of high-profile departures from President Donald Trump’s administration. READ MORE Stocks tumbled after President Donald Trump said the United States would impose tariffs on steel and aluminum imports next week. READ MORE More than 30 White House staffers have been downgraded from their top-secret intelligence clearances until their background checks are concluded.  READ MORE    .     ICYMI Senators are facing “a whose-side-are-you-on moment” with a bank deregulation bill -- and some Democrats are finding common ground with President Trump.   A report this week raised considerable concern when it said that intelligence officials had gathered “substantial evidence” that Russian operatives “compromised” systems in seven states leading up to the 2016 election. Equally alarming was a subsequent dispute over whether that was true.   White nationalism was on display at this year's Conservative Political Action Conference, where, at times, it felt like the loons had taken control of the place.    . Want more?  Ben Carson Cancels $31,000 Furniture Order After Ethics Questions Russian Trolls Used This One Weird Trick To Infiltrate Our Democracy. You’ll Never Believe Where They Learned It. Trump Makes The Case Against Drug Prohibition — In His Own Way     How will Trump’s administration impact you? Sign up for our email and find out. Did a friend send you this? Subscribe here. Like what you see? Share it. Want more? Here are two other newsletters you'll love: The Morning Email and Must Reads. ©2018 HuffPost | 770 Broadway, New York, NY 10003 You are receiving this email because you signed up for updates from HuffPost Feedback | Privacy Policy | Unsubscribe    . - - Preferences  |  Unsubscribe