Majority of Americans Want Stricter Gun Control For First Time In Years

Jacob Bojesson

A Gallup poll released Monday shows a sharp increase in support for gun reforms with 55 percent calling for stricter laws.

It is the fist time in almost three years a majority of Americans want increased legislation in the process of purchasing firearms. The largest increase is among people registered as either independent or Democrats, while fewer Republicans now support harsher laws compared to 2014.

Support among independents rose 11 percentage points from 45 to 56 percent. Registered Democrats are traditionally the most vocal advocates on the issue, and continue to be so, with an increase from 71 to 77 percent. The number among Republicans declined from 29 to 27.

The poll was measured Oct. 7-11 in the days after the Umpqua Community College shooting that took nine lives. Numbers tend to skyrocket following school shooting, which was the case after both the Virginia Tech and Sandy Hook Elementary shootings. (RELATED: Obama Is Focusing His Attention In The Wrong Place)

Parts of the protection laws established in Connecticut and New York following the Sandy Hook shooting were upheld Monday by a federal appeals court. The bans on semiautomatic weapons and large-capacity magazines stands, while the New York ban on loading more than seven bullets in a clip and the Connecticut bar on Remington 7615, a non-semiautomatic gun, were both struck down.

“The core prohibitions by New York and Connecticut of assault weapons and large-capacity magazines do not violate the Second Amendment,” Circuit Judge Jose Cabranes wrote in the decision, according to Reuters.

Legal experts say the rulings will not have much of a practical effect in the states and should be seen as rather symbolic.

“The federal government has been at a stalemate over gun control legislation for well over a decade,” Timothy Lytton, a professor at Georgia State University College of Law, told Reuters. “If Sandy Hook could not move Congress to action, nothing is likely to.”

Follow Jacob on Twitter