This is the best time in the last eight years to tighten up our gun laws in this country. That's because a significant majority of the population currently favors making laws covering the sale of firearms more strict. This is a change from just over a year ago. In October of 2011, the Gallup Poll found that 43% of Americans wanted stricter laws for firearms sales, while 44% wanted to keep the laws just as they are. But a new Gallup Poll, taken between December 19th and 22nd, shows that the attitude of Americans has been radically changed by the shootings in 2012 (including the Newtown school shooting).Currently about 58% of the population would support stricter controls on the sales of guns, while only 34% want the laws to stay the same (and a clueless 6% would like less strict laws on gun sales). And there are two things an even larger percentage would like to see done:
WOULD YOU FAVOR A LAW THAT WOULD REQUIRE A BACKGROUND CHECK BEFORE PEOPLE, INCLUDING GUN DEALERS, COULD BUY GUNS AT A GUN SHOW?
favor...............92%
oppose...............7%
WOULD YOU FAVOR A LAW THAT WOULD BAN SALE AND POSSESSION OF HIGH-CAPACITY AMMUNITION CLIPS THAT CAN HOLD MORE THAN 10 ROUNDS?
favor...............62%
oppose...............35%
Those are good numbers to see, because both of those things have needed to be done for quite a while now. But there was another question in the Gallup Poll that I found troubling. According to the poll, about 51% of the public would oppose banning the sale or possession of an assault rifle. Only 44% would support such a ban. I really don't understand why these people want to allow the sale and possession of these kind of weapons in our society. They are useless for hunting, and no better than a shotgun or a pistol for home defense. The only thing they are good for is killing a lot of people in a short period of time. It looks like we've got some work to do on this question.
