Gallup finds slim majority want new gun laws

WASHINGTON — Results from Gallup’s annual “Crime” poll show that 51 percent of Americans want the government to pass new gun laws rather than focus only on enforcing the current laws more strictly.

The poll was conducted Oct. 5–11 in the month between the Oct. 1 mass shooting in Las Vegas and the Nov. 5 mass shooting in Sutherland Springs, Texas. A 2012 survey on the same question found only 47 percent of Americans supported new gun laws. It is the first time that a majority of Americans have favored passing new gun laws since Gallup first asked this question in 2000.

In terms of the types of new laws they would favor, the vast majority of Americans want stricter controls on the sale of guns, such as universal background checks and mandatory waiting periods.

At the same time, they are split on whether there should be an outright ban on semi-automatic guns, while they broadly oppose making it illegal for civilians to own handguns.