Americans want stricter gun control: Poll

While Arizona’s attorney general has called for military training for teachers in the United States, a recent poll shows that 62 percent of Americans favor a ban on high-capacity guns.

Arizona Attorney General Tom Horne on Wednesday proposed a plan to train and arm one administrator or teacher in every school as a way to prevent another shooting like the one in Connecticut earlier this month.

On Thursday, the USA Today published the results of a Gallup poll which had been conducted to see if Americans had changed their views regarding the country’s gun laws, such as a complete ban on weapons in order to prevent new massacres. A total of 1,028 Americans across the country were interviewed by telephone during December 19 to 22.

On December 14, twenty children and six adults were fatally shot by a gunman — who later killed himself — at the Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown in the US state of Connecticut. The assailant had killed his mother earlier in the day.

The poll revealed that Americans are in favor of banning high-capacity guns, which are firearms containing more than 10 rounds of ammunition; however, when asked if they favor a total ban on gun possession, a record-high said they are against such a measure.

A record-low of 24 percent, since the first reading in 1959, wanted only police or other authorities to carry a weapon.

The poll also showed that 58 percent, up from 43 percent in 2011, are in favor of strengthening the gun laws. Also, a record-high 47 percent of Americans, up from 35 percent in 2011, favored the passing of new gun laws.