Support for gun control slips below 50 percent after Senate vote

Fewer than 50 percent of Americans say they support stricter gun controls, according to a survey released Tuesday, the first time since December's Newtown, Conn. elementary school shooting than less than half of those surveyed say they would back a new gun law.

According to the USA Today survey, 49 percent of Americans say they support passing a new gun control law while 45 percent oppose new legislation. That's down from 55 percent who supported new regulations in April and 61 percent in February. 

Last week, Senate Democrats failed to win the 60 votes necessary to move forward on a compromise bill that would have expanded background checks and instituted new penalties on so-called straw purchasers. Senate leaders had already acknowledged they were unlikely to win enough votes on an assault weapons ban or legislation limiting the size of magazine capacities — two suggestions of President Obama's gun violence commission.

Those who support new gun reforms are likely to be disappointed with the Senate's votes. Sixty-one percent of those who support new gun laws say Congress "should only agree to a stronger version of the bill, even if it might not pass," while just three in 10 say they should back a weaker law they know can win approval. Individual measures that comprise the totality of proposed gun control tend to poll higher than the overall bill, although the USA Today survey did not break out specific provisions. A Washington Post / ABC News poll earlier this month found that 86 percent of all Americans backed an expansion of background checks to cover gun shows and online sales.

On Monday, White House press secretary Jay Carney said Obama would "continue to push" for new gun restrictions.

"So the fact is this is hard because there are institutional reasons, there are political reasons, and there are other, I'm sure, personal reasons for why senators chose to vote against the vast majority of the American people," Carney said. "But we will continue to press the case. And this President made clear on Friday that this is just round one of this fight, that this will happen because it's the right thing to do and it's entirely common sense, and it would result in lives being saved."

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