Polling data collected by the Graphiq network demonstrates that about 71 percent of respondents either somewhat favor or strongly favor banning semi-automatic weapons, while about 29 percent of respondents somewhat oppose or strongly oppose the same. Semi-automatic weapons may encompass military-style rifles as well as standard sporting firearms, increasing the likelihood that respondents use their own interpretation of the term when choosing their answer.
Despite this widespread support, bans on assault weapons have only been passed in a minority of jurisdictions — California, Connecticut, Maryland, Massachusetts, New Jersey and Washington, D.C., have outlawed a list of specific assault weapons by name, and Hawaii bans assault pistols only. New York employs a “features test” that defines a gun as an assault weapon when any one of several listed features are present. California, Connecticut and D.C.’s measures also use the single feature test, making the laws in these four jurisdictions the strictest in the country.
