Poll: Support for stricter gun sales laws highest since early ’90s

Americans’ support for tighter restrictions on firearms is at its highest level in decades, according to a Gallup poll released Wednesday.

Just over two-thirds of U.S. voters — 67 percent — say that laws governing who should be allowed to own a gun should be strengthened, the highest level of support recorded in any Gallup poll since 1993.

According to Gallup’s analysis, America has seen a 20 percent increase in support for tighter gun control legislation since 2014, with most of the increase happening in the last six months.

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Gun violence re-entered the national conversation last month after a shooting at a high school in Parkland, Fla., that left 17 dead.

Student survivors from the school responded with a national campaign aimed at reducing gun violence and ending school shootings. They have marched to the state capitol in Florida to demand change, have appeared on a town hall on CNN in Washington, D.C., and organized a rally against gun violence to be held March 24 in the nation’s capital.

While support for gun control is still largely split along party lines, the poll does show a growing level of support even among Republicans. Forty-one percent of Republicans told Gallup they wanted tighter gun laws, compared to 65 percent of independents and 90 percent of Democrats.

A slim majority, 52 percent, of Republicans told Gallup gun laws should stay the same. Just six percent say gun laws are too strict.

Thirteen percent of those polled said gun violence is the most important issue facing the country today, good for second place in the poll behind the 22 percent who cited “dissatisfaction with government” as the No. 1 issue.

Gallup’s poll was conducted from March 1-8 and contacted 1,041 adults in all 50 states and Washington, D.C. The poll’s margin of error is 4 percentage points.