Like clockwork, Sunday's deadly shooting in Las Vegas has drawn out a fiery debate on gun control, just as many other mass shootings have done before it.
On Sunday night, 64-year-old Stephen Paddock opened fire on a crowd of 22,000 concert-goers from his suite on the 32nd floor of the Mandalay Bay hotel.
He killed at least 59 people before apparently turning one of his guns on himself, in what has since been named the deadliest mass shooting in modern US history.
The enormity of Paddock's weapons arsenal, and the speed at which he was able to mow down dozens of festival attendees within minutes, has prompted questions over what types and how many firearms people should be allowed to purchase.
When police burst into Paddock's hotel room, they found a whopping 23 guns, including semiautomatic rifles. They later discovered another 19 firearms and several thousand rounds of ammunition at his home in Mesquite, Nevada.
It's still unclear exactly what types of weapons Paddock used, but video and audio of the shooting suggests his rifles had rapid-fire capabilities — possibly from "bump stock" devices that can be purchased legally and used to modify firearms into fully automatic weapons.
While many lawmakers and gun control advocates have demanded swift action on gun control measures, their opponents have fired back that such calls politicize the tragedy, and that gun legislation will not improve public safety.
As for the American public, their views are more nuanced. Here's what they think:
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Spring 2017 surveys show 89% of Americans — including gun-owners and non-gun owners — tend to agree on one thing: the mentally ill should be prevented from purchasing guns.
Sources: Pew Research Center, NPR
The so-called "gun show loophole," through which people can purchase firearms without background checks through private sales and gun shows, is similarly non-controversial. Surveys show 84% of US adults — including 77% of gun owners and 87% of non-gun owners — believe the loophole should be closed.
Source: Pew Research Center
Another 83% of American adults believe people on the FBI's no-fly list should be blocked from buying guns. But civil liberties groups have decried previous attempts to push such legislation through Congress, arguing the no-fly list is arbitrary, frequently inaccurate, and discriminatory against Muslim-Americans.
Sources: Pew Research Center, Business Insider
See the rest of the story at Business Insider
source http://www.businessinsider.com/americans-gun-control-beliefs-las-vegas-shooting-polls-surveys-2017-10
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