by Dave Workman
Senior Editor

An April poll by CNN may have left the network moguls stunned because it showed that 46% of the respondents do not support new gun control measures, and 15% said gun laws ought to be relaxed.

The combined figures overwhelmed the 39% who think the country should tighten its gun laws, down from 50% reported in a 2000 poll, according to The Houston Chronicle.

This revelation appeared about the same time that pro-gun Utah Sen. Orrin Hatch wrote in an Op-Ed published by the Main Street Business Journal that, “In recent weeks, there have been countless statements made by politicians, pundits, and even the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) that gun ownership or support for the Second Amendment is connected to, if not synonymous with, violent behavior. Unfortunately, this false assumption has permeated its way into the Utah media’s editorials, political cartoons and news stories.”

The article was headlined “Gun Owners Should Not be Demonized or Marginalized,” and it struck at the heart of news organizations that have made a habit of downplaying positive stories about gun ownership, but highlighting and sensationalizing the negative stories.

The Houston Chronicle story noted that in addition to the CNN poll, an April poll by NBC News and the Wall Street Journal revealed that support for renewal of the ban on so-called “assault weapons” had declined more than 20% since 1991, when 75% of the respondents had supported the ban. Today, only 53% back the ban.

Frank Newport, editor in chief of the Gallup Poll, told the Houston newspaper that “every bit of data is showing us that Americans are getting more conservative about gun control.”

Small wonder, considering the veritable land rush business that has been going on at gun shops and gun shows for the past seven months in the wake of Barack Obama’s election. Many observers have quipped that the gun industry seems to the only American industry not seeking a financial bailout from the government under Obama’s “economic stimulus” program.

Release of the April polling results gave the National Rifle Association an opportunity to crow. NRA spokesman Andrew Arulanandam told the newspaper that “The NRA has always been on the right side of this issue. There’s a realization that over 20,000 gun laws that are on the books are meaningless unless they are enforced. We have adequate gun laws on the books to address every situation.”

Newport told the newspaper that growing opposition to gun control efforts is “counterintuitive” in the wake of high-profile shootings in southern New York state, Pittsburgh, PA, and Oakland, CA.

The findings of this survey seem to validate reports of other polling conducted last October and in April.