Poll: Gun violence turning into top issue for voters in 2020

“While 57 percent say they approve of the economic performance of the administration, an excellent job on the economy can mean fewer people are worried about it. If gun violence stays as an important issue, that could be expected to help drive Democratic turnout,” he continued. 

The poll comes as Americans grapple with a string of mass shootings, most recently in Odessa, Texas, on Saturday that killed seven people. 

Over 30 people were killed last month in back-to-back mass shootings in El Paso, Texas, and Dayton, Ohio. 

House Democrats have already passed background check legislation and are slated to vote on additional bills as soon as next week. 

However, Republicans in the Senate likely won’t support any measures put forth by Democrats unless they get support from President Trump. 

Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) said in an interview on Tuesday that the Trump administration was in the process of deciding what kind of legislation it would support to combat gun violence. 

Democratic presidential hopefuls have been hitting Trump and Republicans for what they say is a lack of action on the issue. 

Trump has thrown out a number of ideas on how to address the issue since the El Paso and Dayton shootings and has previously appeared open to expanding background checks at times. 

But the president has recently focused on mental health as a solution. 

“It would be wonderful to say — to say ‘eliminate,’ but we want to substantially reduce the violent crime — and actually, in any form. Any of its evil forms. This includes strong measures to keep weapons out of the hands of dangerous and deranged individuals, and substantial reforms to our nation’s broken mental health system,” Trump said on Sunday.