Three six-year-old children are among the victims being laid to rest in Newtown, Connecticut, as a result of a mass shooting that has renewed debate over gun violence and gun control laws.

The children were among 26 students and adults who died, last Friday, when a gunman opened fire at an elementary school.

Authorities believe the gunman killed his mother before driving to the school, where he eventually took his own life. Investigators are trying to determine a motive.

On Wednesday, President Barack Obama called for Congress to reinstate an assault weapons ban that lapsed in 2004.

He also named Vice President Joe Biden to lead an effort to write a set of concrete proposals to address gun violence.

A poll released Wednesday indicates the mass shooting has led to a shift in views on gun laws.

The CNN/ORC International poll says 52-percent of those surveyed favor “major restrictions on guns or making all guns illegal.”

The researchers say that is a five point rise from poll conducted in August, shortly after a mass shooting at a Colorado movie theater left 12 dead and six people people were killed in a shooting at a Sikh temple in Wisconsin.