Following the devastating mass shootings in Uvalde, Texas, and Buffalo, New York, last month, a new poll conducted by NPR/PBS NewsHour/Marist is suggesting that a majority of U.S. adults now believe that it is more important to control gun violence than to protect gun rights.

“With nearly four in ten Americans saying they or a loved one has been a victim of gun violence, the proportion of U.S. adults who think it is more important to control gun violence (59%) than to protect gun rights (35%) is at its highest point in nearly a decade,” writes the poll, which surveyed more than 1,000 adults between May 31 and June 6.

“The recent mass shootings in Buffalo and Uvalde are top of mind for most Americans. More than seven in ten adults nationally report these events will make them more likely to head to the polls in November. Many gun reforms draw consensus among the American electorate who say they are more likely to vote for a congressional candidate who backs these measures,” it continues.

Unsurprisingly, the poll found a sharp partisan divide, as 92 percent of Democrats and 54 percent of Independents say that it is more important to control gun violence, while 70 percent of Republicans say it is more important to protect one’s right to bear arms.

Lee Miringoff, director of the Marist College Institute for Public Opinion, added in a statement that the recent high-profile “mass shootings have, again, put the debate about gun safety on the table for decision-makers.”

He continued: “One side calls for greater gun restrictions while the other believes it is a mental health issue. The findings say Americans want to address both.”

The poll comes on the heels of a separate survey by USA Today/Ipsos that showed that half of Republicans—a jump of fifteen percentage points from last year—now support stricter gun laws. In contrast, the survey, which sampled 488 Democrats, 416 Republicans, and 149 Independents in early June, revealed that nearly 90 percent of Democrats favor stricter gun laws, while Independents came in at 67 percent.

Overall, 69 percent of respondents believe gun laws should be stricter than they are today, with 44 percent saying that they should be “a lot” stricter.

The House on Wednesday passed a wide-ranging gun control bill called the Protecting Our Kids Act, which raises the legal age to purchase certain semiautomatic centerfire rifles from eighteen to twenty-one years old, establishes new federal offenses for gun trafficking and for selling large-capacity magazines, enables local governments to compensate individuals who surrender such magazines through a buyback program, and takes steps to strengthen existing federal regulations on bump stocks and ghost guns.

On Thursday, the House voted to pass a federal “red flag” bill that would allow guns to be temporarily confiscated from people who are deemed by a federal court to be a threat to themselves or others.

However, the bills are not expected to pass the Senate due to widespread Republican opposition to stricter gun control.

Ethen Kim Lieser is a Washington state-based Finance and Tech Editor who has held posts at Google, The Korea Herald, Lincoln Journal Star, AsianWeek, and Arirang TV. Follow or contact him on LinkedIn.

Image: Reuters.