Democrats push for gun-control legislation in wake of Orlando attack | S...

Democrats push for
gun-control legislation in wake of Orlando attack

Democratic Sen. Chris Murphy of Connecticut began a
filibuster on Wednesday in an attempt to force a vote on a bill that would
prohibit the sale of firearms to people appearing on Terrorist Screening Center
no-fly lists. The bill is sponsored by Democratic Sen. Dianne Feinstein of
California, a leading advocate of stronger gun-control laws.

In his speech on the Senate floor, Senator Murphy evoked
the 2012 murder of 20 schoolchildren and teachers at Sandy Hook Elementary
School, in his home state, calling inaction on gun-control measures
“unconscionable.”

Fifty-seven percent of respondents told pollsters they
supported the idea, as opposed to 38 percent who said they were against it.
Differences in opinion along partisan lines remained stark. A full 78 percent
of Democrats said they favored the ban, compared to 45 percent of Republicans.
A slim majority of independents (47 percent) were in favor as well.

As The Christian Science Monitor wrote on Tuesday, public
support for the ban has flagged in recent years, with only 45 percent of
Americans favoring it in December 2015. That’s compared to 80 percent in 1994,
when a ban on assault weapons actually went into effect. It expired in 2004.

Public opinion on such measures tends to be volatile,
varying according to what public sees as the main issues at stake. When fears
about terrorism are in the mix, University of Arizona sociologist Jennifer
Carlson told the Monitor, Americans are less likely to want a ban. If the issue
is more about mental health, as in the Sandy Hook shooting, the public tends to
come out in force for the idea.