Poll: American views on guns unchanged after Las Vegas massacre

While many have renewed calls for stricter gun regulations after the mass shooting in Las Vegas, a new poll has found that most Americans’ views on gun laws remain unchanged.

The poll, conducted by the The Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research, found U.S. citizens are still divided on whether tighter firearms restrictions would reduce homicides and mass shootings, while a majority still favor stricter gun regulations.

The survey of 1,054 adults, designed to represent the greater U.S. population, was conducted Oct. 12-16, about two weeks after the worst mass shooting in modern U.S. history left 58 dead and hundreds more injured in Las Vegas.

Approximately 61 percent of respondents said they favored stricter gun laws, while 27 percent thought the laws should stay the same and 11 percent thought they should be less strict. Around 90 percent of Democrats said they wanted tougher gun regulations, but only a third of Republicans agreed.

According to the Associated Press, those numbers are very similar to the results of a July 2016 poll on the same topic.

Around half of respondents said they thought stricter gun laws would reduce mass shootings, and slightly less than half said such restrictions would reduce homicides.

Approximately 50 percent of respondents felt such measures would reduce accidental shootings, while around 40 percent thought tighter gun regulations would reduce suicides and only a third thought they would reduce gang violence.

The poll also showed that a majority of respondents, approximately 59 percent, disapproved of President Donald Trump’s gun control policies, while around 40 percent approved.

Trump was the first president since Ronald Reagan to speak at the National Rifle Association’s annual meeting and has claimed to be a strong supporter of the Second Amendment.

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