Seven years after Sandy Hook, the politics of guns has changed | TheHill

Public opinion surveys show dramatically shifting attitudes over time. A Gallup poll conducted in October found 64 percent of Americans want laws covering the sale of firearms to be more strict, the third straight year support for stricter rules has topped 60 percent.

While proposals like requiring background checks on gun sales or allowing police to take weapons away from a potentially dangerous person have stalled, other policies are beginning to gain support.

A month after the Sandy Hook attack, 54 percent of Americans said they supported banning assault rifles and semi-automatic weapons, according to a Fox News poll conducted at the time. A Fox News poll conducted earlier this year showed 67 percent of respondents favored a ban on assault weapons — including 61 percent of rural white Americans, and 53 percent of those who said their household had a gun in it.

At the same time, the NRA is much less popular than it had been in the past. The Fox poll from 2013 found 56 percent of Americans had a favorable opinion of the group; today, just 42 percent see the NRA favorably, and 47 percent see it unfavorably.

via Seven years after Sandy Hook, the politics of guns has changed | TheHill