Feds Are Likely to Support Obama's New Call for Expanding Gun Regulations

President Obama on Monday once again called for tighter regulation of guns, this time in the wake of a mass shooting in Michigan.

An individual in Kalamazoo murdered six people on Saturday while injuring two others. A county prosecutor charged the suspect, who was expected to appear in court Monday, with six counts of murder and two counts of assault with intent to murder.

Obama took several executive actions to boost gun regulation earlier this year, but said in light of the most recent shooting, “Clearly we’re going to need to do more if we’re going to keep innocent Americans safe.”

“I have got to assume that all of you are just as tired as I am of seeing this stuff happen in your states,” Obama said at the White House while addressing attendees of the National Governors Association winter meeting.

For many federal employees, that will come as a welcome message. A January survey of the federal workforce conducted by the Government Business Council, Government Executive Media Group’s research arm, found about six in 10 federal employees approved of Obama’s executive actions on guns, while 35 percent opposed them. Even 30 percent of Republican feds supported the White House's measures. 

The president’s plan called for hiring hundreds of new federal employees at the Justice Department.

More than four in 10 supported expanding the actions, while 29 percent said they should be rolled back. About 20 percent said the gun laws should be left as they are currently.

Federal employees view Obama’s actions on guns much more favorably than they do the president himself. In August, a GBC/GovExec.com poll found 43 percent of the federal workforce viewed Obama favorably, while 49 percent held negative opinions of him.

The more recent poll was sent to a random sample of Government Executive subscribers from Jan. 20-26; 688 federal employees, representing over 30 civilian and defense agencies, completed the survey. Of those, 35 percent identify as Independents, 28 percent as Democrats, and 26 percent as Republicans. The margin of error is plus or minus 4 percent.

See the full results of the survey here.