More Americans Favor New Gun Laws Over Stricter Enforcement
In the month between the Oct. 1 mass shooting in Las Vegas and the Nov. 5 mass shooting in Sutherland Springs, Texas, a new Gallup poll found that 51% of Americans prefer the government pass new gun laws rather than focus only on enforcing the current laws more strictly. This compares with 47% support in Gallup's previous measure in 2012, and it is the first time that a majority of Americans have favored passing new gun laws since Gallup first asked this question in 2000.
The latest data come from Gallup's annual Crime poll, conducted Oct. 5-11. Gallup last asked this question in December 2012, shortly after the Newtown, Connecticut, mass shooting in which 20 children and six adults were killed at an elementary school. At that time, support for passing new gun laws was up by 12 percentage points from 2011, when 35% favored it.