Gun control petition receives more than 35,000 signatures in just hours online

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A petition to the White House demanding stricter gun control laws crossed the 25,000 signature barrier for an official White House response after fewer than seven hours online Friday.

The petition was created shortly after the shooting rampage at a Newtown, Conn., elementary school that left 27 dead, including 20 children. The petition had been signed more than 35,000 times by 8 p.m. Friday. Few if any previous We the People petitions have received so many signatures so quickly.

The petition asks the Obama administration to “Immediately address the issue of gun control through the introduction of legislation in Congress.” It is one of seven petitions posted to the White House site in the hours after the shootings, all of which advocate stricter gun control laws or improved mental health services.

We the People was recently characterized by divisiveness when citizens from all 50 states took to the site demanding permission to secede from the union after President Obama’s reelection in November.