Polls: Support for Strict Gun Laws Is Low

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Nearly 20 years ago, a poll showed that 52 percent of Americans favored outlawing handgun sales, the first to show majority support for a ban, and pollster Louis Harris--who conducted the poll--called it a "sea change of public opinion on this issue," according to an Associated Press report.

But you won't find that level of support today.

In fact, a 2011 Gallup Poll showed the lowest amount of support for a hand-gun ban (26 percent) since Gallup began tracking the issue in 1959. In that first Gallup poll, 60 percent of Americans favored banning handguns. The Harris poll is from 1993.

Although instances over the years have propelled groups of people to call for stricter gun law enforcement--most recently the shootings in Aurora, Colo., and Oak Creek, Wis.--the public interest usually fizzles, and interest in legislatures rarely bubbles into new bills. …