New poll shows waning support for stricter gun laws

File photo. Credit: Kevork Djansezian/Getty Images

A new Wall Street Journal/NBC News poll has found just over half of Americans (52 percent) believe gun laws should be made more strict.

This number is down from the 56 percent of Americans who said they supported more stringent gun laws in a similar poll taken just one month after last year’s shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary School.

The school shooting at Sandy Hook in Newtown, CT., on Dec. 14, 2012, claimed 26 lives — 20 first-graders and six adults — and led to increased debate across the nation about the availability of guns and semi-automatic weapons.

From the WSJ:

Women were far more likely to advocate tighter gun laws than men, with 61% of women in support, compared with 42% of men. African-Americans supported greater restrictions more than whites, with 70% in support, compared with 48% of whites. Democrats were almost three times more likely than Republicans to support stricter gun laws.