The percentage of Americans who want gun laws to remain the same or become less strict is higher than that of those who favor stricter gun laws, according to a recent Gallup poll.
Specifically, 47 percent of Americans want stricter laws on gun sales, which is a striking 11 percentage points less than the share of individuals who favored such laws following the Sandy Hook Elementary shooting in 2012.
Moreover, this statistic is quite close the the all-time low percentage of individuals favoring stricter gun laws, which was recorded as 43 percent in 2011.
On the contrary, a majority of Americans — 52 percent — want to see gun laws stay the same or become more relaxed. While 38 percent want the gun sale laws to remain as they are, 14 percent would like to see them rendered less strict.
When broken down by party, the numbers reveal that Democrats are much more likely to support stricter laws on gun sales than Republicans. That said, the percentage of Democrats favoring such laws has handedly dropped since 2012.
While 71 percent of Democrats favor stricter gun sale laws today, 79 percent did so in 2012. Among Republicans, on the other hand, only 29 percent support stricter firearm laws today, 10 percentage points less than did after the Newtown shooting.
And, the idea of a handgun ban is particularly unpopular among Americans. The percentage of individuals who say handguns should not be banned is close to a record high at 73 percent, while only one in four say handguns should be banned for everyone except the police, military and other authorized individuals.
The Gallup poll was conducted between October 12 and 15 and involved 1,017 adults over the age of 18 across the United States.
