Poll finds bump in support for greater restrictions in gun control laws after Connecticut shooting
Washington, Dec. 17 (ANI)
Immediately after the devastating school shooting on Friday in Newtown, Connecticut, there is a bump in support for stricter gun laws, with half of Americans saying they support making the nation's gun laws stricter, a new poll has found.
According to the new HuffPost/YouGov survey, 50 percent of Americans said that gun laws should be made more strict than they are now, compared to 43 percent who said that they should remain the same (29 percent) or be made less strict (14 percent).
The poll also found support for banning semi-automatic weapons (51 percent to 33 percent) as well as magazine clips holding more than 10 rounds (54 percent to 32 percent), the Huffington Post reports.
The main weapon used by shooter Adam Lanza was a semiautomatic assault rifle, and he carried several high capacity magazines, though that information had not been released while the poll was being fielded, the report said.
On Saturday, White House Press Secretary Jay Carney told reporters that reinstating the federal assault weapons ban that expired in 2004 'does remain a commitment' of President Barack Obama.
On Sunday, Senator Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.) announced that she would be introducing a new assault weapons ban bill on the first day of the new Congress.
According to the report, YouGov's previous survey on the issue in August this year had found that 44 percent supported stricter gun control laws and 47 percent supporting gun laws remaining the same or less strict.
A month before that, shortly after the movie theater shooting in Aurora, Colorado, the percentage saying gun laws should remain the same or less strict was as high as 50 percent.
No previous YouGov survey has found support for stricter gun control as high as 50 percent, though shortly after Congresswoman Gabby Giffords was shot support reached 48 percent on one poll.
The poll found that nearly 70 percent of respondents said they had heard a lot about the shooting and another 24 percent had heard a little.
Only two percent said they had heard nothing at all, and three percent said they weren't sure.
According to the report, the poll found little sympathy for the argument frequently made by gun rights advocates that Americans would be better protected by more, rather than fewer, guns.
Nearly 46 percent of Americans said that stricter gun control laws and enforcements were most likely to lead to fewer mass shootings, while only 34 percent said that allowing more private citizens to carry guns for protection would be the more protective measure, the report added.