People are more concerned with the threat posed by homegrown jihadists than Syrian refugees and radicalized foreign visitors, according to a new poll.
A majority (58 percent) of those asked named homegrown jihadists, those who are born and raised in the United States, as the most worrying threat, according to a new Quinnipiac University poll of registered voters released Thursday.
Just 16 percent said terrorists hiding among Syrian refugees was the greatest threat, while another 17 percent feared radicalized foreign visitors as the most dangerous.
The poll was taken before Wednesday’s mass shooting incident in San Bernardino, Calif., but it was done after the Paris terror attacks and the attack on a Planned Parenthood clinic in Colorado.
While most were most worried about homegrown terrorists, 52 percent overall said the U.S. should not accept any Syrian refugees, compared to 42 percent who said refugees should be admitted. These views were also noticeably partisan: 68 percent of Democrats support allowing Syrian refugees to resettle, while 84 percent of Republican oppose the idea. Independents were roughly evenly split.
Voters also overwhelmingly support changing gun laws to ban people on terror watch lists from purchasing guns, 77 to 18 percent. That loophole has come under scrutiny in recent weeks as the U.S. mulls upping or lowering the number of Syrian refugees it takes.
Overall, 83 percent of those asked said it is very likely (44 percent) or somewhat likely (39 percent) that terrorists will strike in the near future. This belief was also partisan, as 62 percent of Republicans called it very likely and just 29 percent of Democrats agreed.
The telephone-based poll of roughly 1,400 registered voters was conducted Nov. 23-30 with an overall margin of error of plus or minus 2.6 percentage points.
