A growing number of American voters support banning assault weapons over having citizens carry arms, citing a need to reduce gun violence, according to a poll by Fox News released Thursday (April 27).
Although 45 percent of participants shared that they would encourage more citizens to carry guns to defend against attacks, 61 percent said they supported a ban on automatic weapons and automatic weapons.
Additionally, the overwhelming majority in the poll also supported a wide range of gun safety measures, including 87 percent who supported background checks on all gun purchases.
Eighty-one percent shared their support for better enforcement of gun laws and raising the minimum age to purchase guns to 21, according to the poll conducted on 1,004 registered voters between April 21 and April 24.
Eight in ten participants supported mental health checks being a requirement for all gun buyers and allowing police to be able to temporarily confiscate guns from people who have proven to be a danger to themselves or others.
Despite the widespread support for such measures, a mere 43 percent of participants believed stricter gun control laws would result in a safer country. Instead, only a quarter of those surveyed said more stringent gun control laws could make America safer.
A new gun safety debate is starting as mass shootings continue to take place in the U.S. on an almost daily basis.
According to the Gun Violence Archive, a nonprofit organization that tracks gun violence and crime incidents from 7,500 sources, there have been 172 mass shootings since the start of 2023.
