Most Americans Favor Assault Weapons Ban

Most Americans are on board with a ban on assault weapons, according to a new poll released Thursday by Rasmussen Reports.

The survey found 59 percent of likely U.S. voters think there should be a ban on the purchase of semi-automatic and assault-type weapons, while 33 percent disagree. A smaller amount -- 18 percent -- said they favor a complete ban on handguns in the United States.

Forty-six percent of likely U.S. voters favor stricter gun control, but just as many (47 percent) say the United States does not need tougher anti-gun laws.

Nearly a quarter of voters -- 23 percent -- say they'd feel safer moving into a neighborhood where nobody was allowed to own a gun, while 68 percent disagree and said they would feel safer living in a neighborhood where you could own a gun for your own protection.

The survey of 1,000 likely voters was conducted Dec. 29-30, 2013. The margin of sampling error is +/- 3 percentage points with a 95 percent level of confidence.