How Americans really feel about gun control

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How Americans really feel about gun control

las vegas shooting

David Becker / Getty

Festival attendees run from the barrage of gunfire at the Route 91 country music festival October 1.

Like clockwork, Sunday's deadly shooting in Las Vegas has drawn out a fiery debate on gun control, just as many other mass shootings have done before it.

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On Sunday night, 64-year-old Stephen Paddock opened fire on a crowd of 22,000 concert-goers from his suite on the 32nd floor of the Mandalay Bay hotel.

He killed at least 59 people before apparently turning one of his guns on himself, in what has since been named the deadliest mass shooting in modern US history.

The enormity of Paddock's weapons arsenal, and the speed at which he was able to mow down dozens of festival attendees within minutes, has prompted questions over what types and how many firearms people should be allowed to purchase.

When police burst into Paddock's hotel room, they found a whopping 23 guns, including semiautomatic rifles. They later discovered another 19 firearms and several thousand rounds of ammunition at his home in Mesquite, Nevada.

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It's still unclear exactly what types of weapons Paddock used, but video and audio of the shooting suggests his rifles had rapid-fire capabilities - possibly from "bump stock" devices that can be purchased legally and used to modify firearms into fully automatic weapons.

While many lawmakers and gun control advocates have demanded swift action on gun control measures, their opponents have fired back that such calls politicize the tragedy, and that gun legislation will not improve public safety.

As for the American public, their views are more nuanced. Here's what they think: