News Analysis: Clinton takes tough stance on guns to boost campaign

U.S. Democratic front-runner Hillary Clinton is taking a tough stance on guns in a bid to take advantage of the rising calls for stricter gun control.

The stance could help Clinton toward clinching the Democratic Party's nomination for the 2016 presidential race, experts said.

This comes at a time when a number of violent gun attacks have grabbed headlines nationwide, which are sparking increased calls for stricter gun laws in the United States.

About 55 percent of Americans say they want stricter laws for firearms sales, a distinct rise of eight percentage points from 2014, Gallup found in a poll released Monday.

Besides, fewer Americans than last year want the laws to be less strict or to stay the same.

At the same time, more than one in four (26 percent) U.S. registered voters say they would vote only for a candidate who shares their views on gun control.

That is around double the 11-15 percent who said this in the year after the 1999 Columbine High School massacre, one of the most infamous mass shootings in U.S. history.

About 54 percent of Americans say it is one of many important factors in their vote, Gallup found in a separate report released the same day.

"Americans are getting tougher on gun violence because there have been so many mass shootings recently," Brookings Institution's senior fellow Darrell West told Xinhua.

Recent months have seen a rash of mass shootings. On Sunday, a shooter opened fire on a crowd in Florida's Fort Myers at a street festival, causing one person dead and five others wounded.

Earlier this month a shooter murdered eight students and one professor at a community college in the U.S. state of Oregon.

"Media attention has highlighted the need to keep guns out of the hands of people with serious mental illness," West said.

"People are tired of individuals using high-powered assault weapons to kill innocent individuals. This has increased public support for legislation and moved the country to the left on gun issues," he added.

That shift could help Clinton's election campaign. She has talked tough against gun violence, advocated for a serious crackdown on who is eligible to purchase guns, and tried to close existing loopholes that allow criminals and those with mental issues to buy firearms, West noted.

In comparison, Clinton's main rival, Senator Bernie Sanders, an independent who caucuses with the Democratic Party, has opposed basic gun restrictions.

West added that taking a tougher stance on the misuse of guns could also help Clinton boost turnout in swing states. Endi