Gun control policies may cause a lot of controversy due to divided opinions on who should be able to carry a weapon . An opinion survey was conducted by the firm GfK Knowledge Networks to differentiate between the different attitudes towards gun control . There was a gun policy survey and a mental illness survey . Studies showed that over 85 % of those questioned supported national background checks into the mental health records of citizens attempting to purchase a gun . More than 50 % of people felt that those with mental health issues were more deviant and threatening than those who had good mental health . The study also found that there is large interest in contributing to mental health awareness as well as simply prohibiting those with mental illness from purchasing guns . Nearly two thirds of respondents supported greater government spending on mental health , with more than 60 % of people believing this would reduce gun violence in the USA . ( Colleen L. Barry , 2013 ) As of June 2016 , U.S. President Barack Obama had spoken in the aftermath of fourteen mass shootings during his nearly eight-year presidency , repeatedly calling for more gun safety laws in the United States . After the Charleston church shooting , U.S. President Barack Obama said , " At some point , we as a country will have to reckon with the fact that this type of mass violence does not happen in other advanced countries . It does n't happen in other places with this kind of frequency . " After the December 2015 San Bernardino attack , Obama renewed his call for reforming gun-safety laws and also said that the frequency of mass shootings in the United States has " no parallel in the world " . After the February 2018 attack at Florida 's Parkland school shooting at Stoneman Douglas High School , the school 's student survivors , teachers , and parents became strong leaders in the effort to ban assault weapon sales and easy accessibility to military weapons
2015 San Bernardino attack
2015 San Bernardino attack
Mass shooting