Poll: 62 Percent of Americans Favor Semi-Automatic Assault Weapons Ban

MIAMI, FL - DECEMBER 18: In this photo illustration a Rock River Arms AR-15 rifle is seen on December 18, 2012 in Miami, Florida. Credit: Getty Images

A new CNN poll released Wednesday found 52 percent of Americans favor major restrictions on gun ownership or making all guns illegal, less than a week after the elementary school massacre in Newtown, Conn.

That's 5 points higher than a CNN survey found after the shootings at an Aurora, Colo. movie theater and at a Sikh temple in Wisconsin this summer.

The latest poll found that 62 percent of Americans favor a ban on semi-automatic assault weapons and high-capacity ammunition clips.

Forty-three percent said the Sandy Hook Elementary shooting made them more likely to support gun control laws, up 15 points from the January 2011 shooting in Tucson, Ariz. that killed six and severely injured then-Rep. Gabrielle Giffords and others.

CNN found a sharp partisan divide among respondents: Close to 80 percent of Democrats said they favor major gun ownership restrictions or a complete ban, compared to 42 percent of independents and 31 percent of Republicans. Men were also less likely to support such restrictions at 41 percent, compared to 62 percent of women who said they would.

Other polls released this week registered similar upticks in support for gun laws: A Reuters poll released Monday found 50 percent of Americans agreed that "gun ownership should have strong regulations or restrictions," compared with 42 percent before the Newtown shooting, and a CBS News poll found a 10-year high of 57 percent of Americans who support stricter gun control measures.

Featured image via AP

--

​RELATED:

• ‘Where Have You Been?’: ABC’s Jake Tapper Calls Out Obama in Testy Gun Control Exchange
• ‘The Sandy Hook Effect’: Something Remarkable Is Happening With Gun Sales & Stocks