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Americans favorable of Obama's gun control policies

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Despite nationwide protests, the majority of Americans' reaction to President Barack Obama's gun control policies is mostly positive.

According to Gallup, 53 percent of Americans would want their Congressional representative to vote in favor of Obama's proposed gun laws while 41 percent say they would like to see their representative vote against them.

The poll was conducted Jan. 17, the day after Obama announced 23 executive orders that would require federal agencies to supply information relevant for background checks, incentivize the sharing of background check information, direct the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to research the causes and prevention of gun violence and  improve gun tracking in criminal investigations, among others. The question asked respondents about the proposals, which in reality could be passed or rejected by the U.S. House of Representatives and Senate on a one-by-one basis.

The question identified the gun proposals as those Obama announced Jan. 16, and Gallup notes the strongest support for the proposals come from Democrats and liberals while the weakest support comes from Republicans and conservatives. Groups that traditionally lean Democratic—nonwhites, Easterners and those with postgraduate educations—are significantly above average in support, Gallup noted.

Obama's gun proposals come a month after the school shooting in Newtown, Conn. Americans' general support for stricter gun laws surged after the shooting and previous research has shown support fro elements of Obama's proposals, including background checks and bans on high-capacity ammunition clips, according to Gallup.

Gallup conducted the poll via telephone interviews Jan. 17 with a random sample of 1,021 adults living in the U.S. and Washington, D.C. The margin of error is 4 percentage points.