The gun-control debate has been reignited in some circles after the horrific massacre in a Colorado movie theater last Friday, but it won't likely be a campaign issue in the 2012 presidential election.
Both presidential candidates have signaled an unwillingness to make the topic a prominent one in the campaign heading forward. On CNBC's "The Kudlow Report" Monday, presumptive Republican nominee Mitt Romney said he was a "firm believer in the Second Amendment," which runs along similar lines he's made on his campaign website. Meanwhile, President Barack Obama does not plan to push the issue any further in this election.
There's a reason Obama won't likely pursue the issue during the campaign. Recent history suggests that although some controversy has ensued over one of the weapons suspected gunman James Holmes used in the Colorado shooting, it won't push public support toward new restrictions on gun ownership — or even toward a rehash of the Federal Assault Weapons Ban, which expired in 2004.
But some politicians, like New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg, have pushed for more talk on the subject of gun control in the wake of the shootings.
Like everything else, Americans are divided along party, ideological, gender and racial and socioeconomic lines on the subject of gun control. But some of America's agreements might surprise you.
The 1999 Columbine, Colorado, massacre briefly pushed support toward "controlling gun ownership" up 8 points to 65 percent of Americans.
In the last 12 years, though, there has been a rapid rise in support for gun rights. More people now support protecting rights of gun ownership than controlling it.
An earlier, 2010 Pew Research poll displayed some divides among Americans on gun-control issues. For example, 57 percent of men want more gun rights, compared with just 37 percent of women.
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