Poll: Support for stricter gun laws reaches new high

Support for stricter gun laws in the country has reached a new high, according to a poll released less than a week after the deadly high school shooting in south Florida.

The Quinnipiac University poll unveiled Tuesday finds 66 percent of respondents support stricter gun laws, the highest Quinnipiac has ever recorded. 

Just 31 percent of respondents oppose stricter gun laws.

{mosads}In a Quinnipiac poll conducted in December, 59 percent of respondents supported stricter gun laws, while 36 percent opposed them. 

Tuesday’s survey also finds that 97 percent of respondents support requiring background checks for all gun buyers.

The poll was conducted from Feb. 16 to 19 among 1,249 voters. The margin of error is 3.4 percentage points.

The poll comes after 17 people were killed when a gunman opened fire Wednesday at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Fla.

Multiple lawmakers have called for new gun laws following the shooting. Students who survived the shooting have also become vocal advocates, demanding that officials act to prevent a future tragedy.

President Trump indicated Monday he supports legislation intended to improve the nation’s background check system.

“The president is supportive of efforts to improve the federal background check system,” White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders said in a statement.