Just 39% of Americans now say the United States needs stricter gun control, as the U.S. Supreme Court prepares to review the constitutionality of state and local anti-gun laws.

A new Rasmussen Reports national telephone survey shows that 50% are opposed to stricter gun control laws, and 11% are not sure.

In March, 43% favored stricter gun control laws. In previous surveys, voters have been narrowly divided on the question.

Men by 23 points oppose stricter gun control laws. Women are evenly divided. Sixty-five percent (65%) of Democrats favor tighter control of guns, but 69% of Republicans and 62% of adults not affiliated with either party disagree.

The Supreme Court starts a new term today, and one of the most important cases on its docket looks at whether the Second Amendment of the U.S. Constitution takes legal precedence over state and local anti-gun laws. Only 20% of adults believe city governments have the right to prevent citizens from owning handguns.

Sixty-nine percent (69%) disagree and say city governments do not have that right. Eleven percent (11%) are undecided.

Eighty-seven percent (87%) of Republicans, 52% of Democrats and 72% of unaffiliateds say cities do not have the right to ban handgun ownership.

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Seventy-one percent (71%) of Americans continue to believe that the U.S. Constitution guarantees the right of an average citizen to own a gun. Thirteen percent (13%) do not think gun ownership is a constitutional right. Fifteen percent (15%) aren’t sure.

These findings are roughly comparable to a survey in March.

Yet, despite these findings, a plurality of Americans (46%) says it is too easy to buy a gun in America. Only 13% say it’s too hard to purchase a firearm. One-out of-three adults (33%) say the level of difficulty is about right.

The Supreme Court in June 2008 upheld individual gun ownership when it declared Washington, D.C.’s law banning handguns within city limits as unconstitutional. But because Washington is a federal enclave, the court has now taken on a challenge to Chicago’s gun law to determine the constitutionality of anti-gun measures in all states and localities.

Sixty-three percent of voters agreed with the Washington, D.C. decision. The ruling also raised the public’s opinion of the Supreme Court.

Fifty-seven percent (57%) of Americans say they have followed news reports about the Supreme Court’s decision to review the constitutionality of state and local gun control laws. Twenty-six percent (26%) say they have been following very closely. Eleven percent (11%) are not following the story at all.

The Second Amendment to the U.S. Constitution states, “A well regulated militia being necessary to the security of a free State, the right of the People to keep and bear arms shall not be infringed.” The amendment is part of the Bill of Rights.

Gun control advocates have argued that the Second Amendment refers to the arming of a militia for the common defense and is not a guarantee of an individual’s right to own a gun. The National Rifle Association and numerous political leaders, both Democrat and Republican, among others, disagree.

Fifty-seven percent (57%) of Americans say gun sales are up in the United States because of a fear of increased government restriction on gun ownership.

Seventy-one percent (71%) of Americans believe it is at least somewhat likely that President Obama will seek tougher gun control laws, including 43% who say it is very likely.

The gun case will be one of the first major ones new Justice Sonia Sotomayor will tackle as a member of the Supreme Court. The majority of voters (51%) say Sotomayor is a liberal while 29% view her as a moderate.

Thirty-one percent (31%) of voters see the current Supreme Court as too liberal, while 20% say it is too conservative. The plurality (42%) says the political balance is about right. But the court this summer enjoyed its highest performance ratings in over two years.

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