A new national NBC News/Wall Street Journal poll found that a whopping 71% of Americans surveyed believe the many shootings and other acts of mass violence in we’ve seen in 2015 are now a permanent part of life in our country.
That’s compared with just 21 percent of Americans who think the violence this year — from Charleston, S.C., and Oregon, to the terrorist shootings in San Bernardino, Calif. — has been unusual and won’t happen as often in the future.
The NBC/WSJ poll also finds 29 percent of Americans saying they’re either "very" or "fairly" worried that they or a loved one will be the victim of a terrorist attack — up from the 28 percent who said this in Sept. 2001 after the 9/11 terrorist attacks.
Seventy percent, however, say they’re not worried or are only slightly worried about this happening.
By comparison, 32 percent say they’re worried that they or a loved one will be the victim of gun violence, versus 67 percent who aren’t as worried.
Worth noting: Small sample size, and this is news, not science.
The NBC/WSJ poll was conducted Dec. 6-9 of 1,000 adults (nearly 400 reached by cell phone), and it has an overall margin of error of plus-minus 3.1 percentage points.
“Poll: 71% Say Shooting Violence Now Normal Part of American Life” [nbcnews]