Gun Restriction Support Shrinks Post-Sandy Hook Less than half of Americans would like to see stricter laws on firearm sales, per a Gallup poll. People hold signs during a rally at the Connecticut State Capital to promote gun control legislation in the wake of the Sandy Hook Elementary school shooting on Feb. 14, 2013 in Hartford, Conn. Pro-gun control advocates gather to promote gun restrictions in the wake of the Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting on Feb. 14, 2013, in Hartford, Conn. Less than half of Americans support tightening gun restrictions, a recent Gallup poll finds. By Tierney Sneed

Gun Restriction Support Shrinks Post-Sandy Hook

Less than half of Americans would like to see stricter laws on firearm sales, per a Gallup poll.

Pro-gun control advocates gather to promote gun restrictions in the wake of the Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting on Feb. 14, 2013, in Hartford, Conn. Less than half of Americans support tightening gun restrictions, a recent Gallup poll finds. By Tierney Sneed

Support for gun laws has shrunk by more than 10 percent since the tragic school shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Connecticut, a new Gallup poll finds. After the December 2012 shooting, the percentage of Americans favoring stricter firearm sale laws spiked to 58 percent. Now less than half – 47 percent – of Americans support tightening gun restrictions, compared to 38 percent of Americans who believe gun laws should stay as they are and 14 percent who would like to see laws loosened.

Less than half of Americans favor stricter firearms sales, per a Gallup poll.

Support for new gun sale restrictions dropped significantly in the last two years among both Democrats and Republicans, while staying stable among independents.

Belief that gun laws should be stricter dropped the significantly among women – from 69 percent in 2012 to 55 percent in 2012, while also dropping by 7 percent for men.

Meanwhile, nonwhite Americans remain considerable more supportive of stricter gun sale laws than white Americans, though favor shrunk in both groups in the last two years.

Undeterred by the failure of efforts for stricter federal firearm laws, pro-gun restriction groups like former New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg’s Everytown for Gun Safety and Americans for Responsible Solutions, which is fronted by shooting survivor, former Rep. Gabby Giffords, have poured a millions into this election cycle. However the National Rifle Association has put it up a fight of its own.

A Washington state ballot initiative to close the gun show loophole and expand background checks looks like it will pass, as support for it has grown to 64 percent in light of a recent school shooting in that state. Voters there will also have the choice of a rival measure that would prevent more background checks and there is also initiative on ballots in Alabama to amend the state constitutional to assert a “fundamental right to bear arms.”