6 in 10 say ban assault weapons, up sharply in Parkland's aftermath

Support for new gun laws has risen sharply, a new ABC News/Washington Post poll shows, including for anti-gun-violence legislation in general and a ban on assault weapons in particular. Large and bipartisan majorities also back raising the legal age to buy long guns and enacting “red flag” gun-confiscation laws.

In the wake of the high school shooting that killed 17 in Parkland, Florida, in February, 62 percent of Americans now support a nationwide ban on the sale of assault weapons, up from 50 percent just since mid-February and 45 percent in late 2015 to its highest since January 2011.

More, 72 percent, support raising the legal age to buy rifles and shotguns to 21 in all states, and 85 percent favor red flag laws empowering the police to take guns away from those judged to be a danger to themselves and others. Such laws have been enacted in six states and proposed in 23 more.

More generally, the public by 57-34 percent now says that enacting new laws to try to prevent gun violence should be a higher priority than protecting the right to own a gun. That broad 23-point preference for new gun laws compares with an even 46-47 percent split in fall 2015.

http://abcnews.go.com/Politics/10-ban-assault-weapons-sharply-parklands-aftermath/story?id=54531298

The American public is becoming more vocal in their support for sensible gun control measures. The gun violence epidemic in this country is finally gaining the recognition that the right-wing gun lobby has tried to suppress for so many years, and the NRA's neoconservative influence is being exposed for the con-job marketing scheme that it is.