A second national poll from a major media outlet in the past week has found a majority of Americans now oppose a ban on so-called assault weapons even after the New York Times published an editorial on its front page supporting it.
Fifty-three percent of respondents said they oppose a ban on assault weapons in anABC/Washington Post poll released on Wednesday, an increase of more than 10 points since the last time the question was asked in 2013. Forty-five percent indicated they would support such a ban, a drop of 11 points in the same time period. The poll of 1,002 adults, conducted between December 10 and 13, has been asking the assault weapons ban question since 1994, when 80 percent of respondents supported a ban while only 18 percent said they opposed it.