The downward trend in support for stricter gun control stalled briefly in 1999 after the Columbine High School massacre; however, the slight increase in support for stricter gun laws seen at that time (to 66%) proved temporary. The general downward trend in support for stricter gun laws has continued even though several high-profile civilian gun crimes, including the 2002 Washington, D.C.,-area sniper attacks, a 2005 shooting at an Indian reservation in Minnesota, a 2007 shooting at a Nebraska shopping mall, the Virginia Tech massacre in 2007, and shooting rampages in 2009 in Alabama and at a Binghamton, N.Y., citizenship center, have occurred over the past decade.

The same pattern is seen with respect to banning average Americans from owning handguns. Support for that proposal has fallen by one-third over the past two decades.