CNN Poll: Support For Gun Control Is Slipping

Democrats were in a hurry to push through tough new gun control regulations after the Sandy Hook murders, and here’s the reason why. With the assault weapons ban fizzling in the Senate, support for new gun control laws is declining the further we get away from what happened in New Town, Connecticut:

Washington (CNN) – A new national poll suggests that support for major restrictions on guns may be fading, three months after the horrific shootings at an elementary school in Connecticut.

Although a majority of Americans favored major restrictions on guns or an outright ban in the wake of the shootings in Newtown, Connecticut, when a heavily armed gunman killed 20 young students and six adults, a new CNN/ORC International survey indicates that support has tumbled to just 43%, as more time has passed since that December tragedy.

“Support for stricter gun control has fallen dramatically among two groups – older Americans and people who live in rural areas,” says CNN Polling Director Keating Holland. “In the immediate aftermath of the shootings in Connecticut, the number of rural Americans who supported major gun restrictions rose to 49% but now that support has dropped 22 points. Support for stricter gun laws dropped 16 points among Americans over 50 years old in that same time.”

This why knee-jerk legislation is seldom good policy. Creating new laws in the heat of the moment, when emotions are running high, isn’t wise and those who push to leverage tragedy or crisis into political momentum should be ashamed of themselves.

Our government was designed to move slowly, and work through representation instead of direct democracy, and for good reason.