For the first time in two decades, through a spate of school shootings at the likes of Columbine, Colorado and Newtown, Connecticut, more Americans say it is more important to protect gun rights rather than to increase gun control, Pew Research found.

Pew’s latest poll on American attitudes regarding gun rights found that 52 percent of respondents are more concerned about the protection of the right to own a gun, opposed to 46 percent who said it was more important to prioritize gun control.

Pew said the poll represented the first time a majority held a pro-gun-rights position since it started surveying Americans on the issue in 1993.

RT