Poll: Support rises for stricter gun laws
Americans increasingly favor tougher gun laws by margins that have grown wider after a steady drumbeat of shootings in recent months, but they also are pessimistic that change will happen any time soon, according to a new Associated Press-GfK poll.
Nearly two-thirds of respondents expressed support for stricter laws, with majorities favoring nationwide bans on the sale of semi-automatic assault weapons such as the AR-15 and on the sale of highcapacity magazines holding 10 or more bullets.
The percentage of Americans who want such laws is the highest since the AP-GfK poll started asking the question in 2013, a survey taken about 10 months after the Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting in Newtown, Conn., that killed 20 children and six staff members.
The most recent poll was conducted July 7-11, shortly after a string of high-profile shootings, including in Orlando, Fla., Dallas and Baton Rouge, La.
A majority of respondents expressed a desire for a national approach to gun laws, rather than a patchwork of state laws or local regulations, even though Congress has thus far failed to act on many of the initiatives the poll showed Americans support. Fewer than half of respondents said they believe gun laws will get tougher in the coming year.
By a 55 percent to 43 percent margin, respondents said laws that limit gun ownership do not infringe on the constitutional right to bear arms. But the responses also revealed a partisan divide: 87 percent of Democrats support stricter gun laws compared with 41 percent of Republicans.
The poll of 1,009 adults was conducted online. The margin of sampling error is plus or minus 3.3 percentage points.