Support for gun-control laws appears to be waning, and CNN says the moment to make stricter regulations may have passed now that the killings in Newtown, Conn. are no longer front-page news.
"Polls conducted over the past few weeks suggest that three and a half months after the tragedy, public backing for major new gun laws overall appears to have dropped significantly," reports Paul Steinhauser for CNN. He sites a CBS News survey that indicated a 10-point drop from 57 percent immediately after the shootings to 47 percent now, and a CNN/ORC International poll that saw a drop from 52 percent to 43 percent. "The new polls suggest that federal lawmakers pushing for gun control might have waited too long to act," Steinhauser writes.
CNN Polling Director Keating Holland told Steinhauser: "Support for stricter gun control has fallen dramatically among two groups, older Americans and people who live in rural areas. In the immediate aftermath of the shootings, the number of rural Americans who supported major gun restrictions rose to 49 percent but now that support has dropped 22 points. Support for stricter gun laws dropped 16 points among Americans over 50 years old in that same time."
New York lawyer Richard Davis, who served as assistant treasury secretary for enforcement and operations during the Carter administration, opines for CNN: "Many people thought that the massacre of 20 young school children and six educators by a gunman wielding an assault weapon would change the terms of the debate over firearms regulation. It appears that they were wrong."
He also writes, "A sensible approach to gun violence would, among other non-law enforcement steps, include prohibitions directed at assault-type weapons, more regulation of handguns, less regulation of traditional long guns and working to make sure that federal, state and local law enforcement have the tools to enforce the laws relating to firearms. Unfortunately, logic does not always operate when the topic is guns."
"Polls conducted over the past few weeks suggest that three and a half months after the tragedy, public backing for major new gun laws overall appears to have dropped significantly," reports Paul Steinhauser for CNN. He sites a CBS News survey that indicated a 10-point drop from 57 percent immediately after the shootings to 47 percent now, and a CNN/ORC International poll that saw a drop from 52 percent to 43 percent. "The new polls suggest that federal lawmakers pushing for gun control might have waited too long to act," Steinhauser writes.
CNN Polling Director Keating Holland told Steinhauser: "Support for stricter gun control has fallen dramatically among two groups, older Americans and people who live in rural areas. In the immediate aftermath of the shootings, the number of rural Americans who supported major gun restrictions rose to 49 percent but now that support has dropped 22 points. Support for stricter gun laws dropped 16 points among Americans over 50 years old in that same time."
New York lawyer Richard Davis, who served as assistant treasury secretary for enforcement and operations during the Carter administration, opines for CNN: "Many people thought that the massacre of 20 young school children and six educators by a gunman wielding an assault weapon would change the terms of the debate over firearms regulation. It appears that they were wrong."
He also writes, "A sensible approach to gun violence would, among other non-law enforcement steps, include prohibitions directed at assault-type weapons, more regulation of handguns, less regulation of traditional long guns and working to make sure that federal, state and local law enforcement have the tools to enforce the laws relating to firearms. Unfortunately, logic does not always operate when the topic is guns."
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