Poll: Majority support assault weapons ban

A majority of Americans support new firearm restrictions including a ban on assault weapons the wake of the shootings at Sandy Hook Elementary, according to a new poll conducted for CNN.

The poll found that nearly four in five Americans support some gun control in some form and 62 percent back a ban on semi-automatic assault rifles and high-capacity magazine clips.

According to the poll, 52 percent of Americans support either major restrictions on owning guns or an outright ban on firearms, up five percentage points from the last time CNN polled the question in August, following mass shootings in Colorado and Wisconsin.

There is a clear partisan divide on the issue: 80 percent of Democrats support major restrictions or an outright ban on guns. That number drops to 42 percent of independents and 31 percent of Republicans.

The poll of 620 adult Americans was conducted for CNN by ORC International from Dec. 17-18 and has a margin of error of plus or minus 4 percentage points.

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