New poll: Majority of Americans don't want to ban Muslims from entering U.S.

In another indication of how Donald Trump's proposal to temporarily ban all Muslims from entry into the United States is going, a majority of Americans said in a new CBS News poll
released Friday that they would oppose such a measure, with most Republicans saying that it would run contrary to the country's founding principles.
Overall, 58 percent said the U.S. should not temporarily bar the entry Muslims from other countries, while 36 percent said it should. Along party lines, 54 percent of Republicans said it was a good idea, while 38 percent did not. Opposition is strong among Democratic respondents, with 73 percent opposing Trump's proposal and just 23 percent in favor of it. Among independents, 59 percent opposed and 35 percent supported.

Asked whether they would favor or oppose a federal database keeping track of Muslims' names in the U.S., respondents were split, with 44 percent supporting and 46 percent opposing. Roughly 60 percent of Republicans would back such an effort, compared to just 31 percent of Democrats who said they would do the same.
Overall, a plurality of 46 percent said Trump's proposal would have no effect on keeping the country safe from terrorism, while 28 percent said it would keep the U.S. safer and 19 percent said it would make things less safe. A slim plurality of 45 percent to 35 percent of Republicans said it would make the country more safe rather than having no material impact, while a majority of 52 percent of Democrats said it would neither help nor hurt. Just 14 percent of Democrats said it would keep the U.S. safer from terrorism, and 27 percent said it would make things less safe.
On whether the proposal goes against or is in keeping with the tradition of the country's founding principles, just 25 percent responded the latter, while 67 percent indicated that it is antithetical to American values. Strikingly, 51 percent of Republicans said they felt the same way, compared to 39 percent who said it is consistent. Larger majorities of Democrats and independents, 78 percent and 69 percent, respectively, said it runs contrary to those principles.
On the religion of Islam itself, 39 percent overall said they had not heard enough about it to determine whether they had a favorable impression. Asked whether Islam encourages more violence than other religions in the world, 48 percent to 38 percent said it did not, though 55 percent to 32 percent of Republicans said that it did.
Asked if they thought Muslim Americans are more sympathetic to terrorists than other American citizens, 54 percent said they were not, while 32 percent said they were. Republicans were divided—44 percent not, 42 percent in the affirmative—while Democrats and independents rejected that notion more forcefully.
The poll was conducted Dec. 9-10, surveying 1,011 adults nationwide via landlines and cellphones. The overall margin of error is plus or minus 4 percentage points. The sample also includes samples of 304 Republicans, with a margin of error of plus or minus 6 percentage points; 313 Democrats, with a margin of error of plus or minus 6 percentage points; and 394 independents, with a margin of error of plus or minus 5 percentage points.