American public opinion about gun control remained polarized and politicized in the wake of the Sandy Hook mass shooting

Despite rhetoric to the contrary, Congress took little action to restrict gun ownership in the wake of the tragic school shooting in Newtown, Connecticut in December 2012. Why was no real action taken, when the national mood seems so in favor of such measures? In new research which analyses public opinion polling on gun control, Kevin H. Wozniak finds that support and opposition for stricter gun control laws is split along partisan lines. He argues that this split helped lead to legislative gridlock in Congress on the issue, with legislators responding to views of their constituents, not to the overall will of the public.