AP Photo More than half of Americans polled want stricter gun sale laws

More than half of Americans want stricter laws when it comes to the sale of guns, according to the results of a Gallup crime survey released Monday.

Among adults nationwide, 55 percent want regulations to be more strict, up 8 percentage points from 2014. Just 33 percent think things should remain as is and 11 percent want fewer laws on the books. The mark is still below the 58 percent in 2013 who called for more regulation in the aftermath of the shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary School the previous December.


The latest survey was conducted in the days after the shooting at Umpqua Community College in Oregon.

Compared to 2014, more gun owners want stricter laws (30 percent to 36 percent this year), as do more people who do not own guns (57 percent in 2014 to 64 percent this time). By comparison, the share of Republicans expressing a desire for more gun laws decreased slightly from last year, from 29 percent to 27 percent this time.

Support for a nationwide ban on handguns for everyone but law enforcement remains low, as has been the case over the last half-century. Just 27 percent want to ban handguns for civilians, while 72 percent said there should not be a ban.

The survey was conducted Oct. 7-11, polling 1,015 adults nationwide. The overall margin of error is plus or minus 4 percentage points.