Public opinion regarding gun laws appears to have remained stable following the shooting in an Aurora, Colorado movie theater earlier this month that claimed the lives of 12 victims.
A poll conducted by the Pew Research Center in the days after the shooting asked respondents what was more important: controlling gun ownership or protecting the right to own guns.
47 percent replied that controlling gun ownership was more important while 46 opted for protecting the right to own guns. In April, 45 percent opted for gun control while 49 percent said right to own guns.
In terms of race and gender, Pew found that black respondents were far more favorable to gun control by a 73 to 23 percent margin. A smaller majority of white respondents supported the idea of gun rights over gun control via a 56 to 38 percent margin.
The poll found that in terms of political parties, 71 percent of Republicans said that second amendment rights trumped gun control while only 21 percent said otherwise. Among Democrats, gun control was viewed as more important by 72 percent to 21 percent. Independents opt for gun rights at 50 percent while 43 percent cited gun control as more important.
The poll was conducted nationwide among 1,010 respondents between July 26th and 29th.
