Support for Stricter Gun Laws Surges After Newtown Shooting

The massacre at Sandy Hook Elementary School, along with others, has resulted in a real and significant change in popular opinion about gun laws. Support for stricter gun laws has increased dramatically since last year. From Gallup:

This appears to be the tipping point on this issue, with the politics around gun regulation now very different from what it was a few years ago.

What Americans mean by “stricter gun regulation” is still extremely modest by international standards, though. The poll found that 62 percent of Americans favor banning high-capacity ammunition clips and 51 percent back a ban on so-called “assault rifles,” but only 24 percent support banning handguns. In fact, support for allowing regular people to own handguns is at a record high.