Written by Staff Writer Matthew Knight, CNN
Support for new gun control legislation hit its lowest point in more than a decade in the wake of the Virginia Tech shooting, according to a poll released Monday.
In the wake of the mass shooting in 2007 at Virginia Tech where 32 people were killed, 61% of Americans favored stricter gun control laws. That figure was down to 44% this year, according to Gallup’s report.
The poll found that 19% of Americans — up from 13% in 2007 — want to have strict gun laws that would result in gun confiscation. This 6-point shift may be a result of a spring 2018 poll that found 23% in favor of gun confiscation. A bigger jump came in November 2017, when 28% said they wanted stricter gun laws in response to the Parkland high school shooting.
President Donald Trump has said he is “studying” how to implement new restrictions on guns, as have several other Republican lawmakers including Sen. Rand Paul of Kentucky. But since being elected, Trump has backed the right of citizens to bear arms and said that whether to tighten gun laws should be left to states and communities.
A Washington Post/ABC News poll released Monday showed 74% of Americans think there should be some restrictions on gun ownership. A separate poll released last week from Bloomberg Politics found that 88% of voters support laws requiring background checks on all gun purchases, including guns at gun shows and online.