Increased Desire For Stricter Gun Laws

A majority of Americans have been in favor of stricter restrictions on guns for a few years now -- but it was a small majority. According to a poll done in January of 2011, it was about 52% of the general public. That's not really a significant majority (and probably within the poll's margin of error), so it's understandable why nothing could be done to accomplish getting more restrictions on who could purchase, own, and use guns.

But the tragedy of the shooting of the 6 and 7 year-olds in Newtown has been a real game changer -- more so than any of the other mass shootings. While all of the far too many mass shootings were recognized as tragedies, seeing that many innocent youngsters has really caused many Americans to reassess their stance on stricter gun laws. This is clearly demonstrated by a new NBC News/Wall Street Journal Poll. The poll, done in February, shows that the desire for stricter guns laws is more popular now than at any time since 2000.

Here are the numbers from that poll. The first percentage is the current number who want stricter gun laws. The number in parentheses is the percentage that wanted stricter gun laws in this same poll back in January of 2011. Note that not only has the general public's desire for stricter gun laws grown, but the same is true for all of the demographic groups.

PERCENTAGE WANTING STRICTER GUN LAWS

General Public...............61% (52%).....+9

Men...............51% (42%).....+9
Women...............69% (61%).....+8

Whites...............55% (48%).....+7
Hispanics...............72% (60%).....+12
African-Americans...............86% (71%).....+15

Urban...............71% (55%).....+16
Suburban...............59% (51%).....+8
Rural...............48% (41%).....+7

Republicans...............37% (24%).....+13
Independents...............49% (48%).....+1
Democrats...............82% (71%).....+11

This is our best opportunity in years to at least close the loopholes in the background checks (so that ALL gun sales will have a background check -- even personal sales and gun show sales), and possibly even once again ban the sale of assault weapons. It needs to be done -- as quickly as possible. There are lives to be saved.