What is general public opinion of the American people on more restrictive gun control laws?

Question

I am a Dutchman looking for dependable poll data on the public opninion of the American people regarding the issue of more restrictive gun control laws. I did some search on Internet and found a lot of related articles, but no recent data (the latest poll I found was one by USA Weekend magazine July 4 1999). I am aware that public opinion will fluctuate quite a lot after incidents like the Columbine highschool massacre and the recent Amish killings. I assume however that there are sufficient poll data available to get a feeling on the general opinion of the American people on this important issue. Probably these data are readily available and I did not search very well until now. Who can help to find the relevant sources?

Louis Harmsen

Answer 1

Here's a start:

http://www.pollingreport.com/guns.htm

http://www.youdebate.com/gun_control.htm

http://www.harrisinteractive.com/harris_poll/index.asp?PID=471

http://www.misterpoll.com/results.mpl?id=3274597275

http://plsc.uark.edu/arkpoll/fall99/policy/GUN3.HTM

Answer 2

First, this poll will not be a legitimate sampling of the public, people on this site tend to be very polarized to the left or right.

Many people oppose more restrictive guns laws not so much because the right of people to possess arms is a constitutional guarantee in the US, but because many people realize that the ability to kill another person has nothing to do with firearms.

People have been killing people since before written history. One of the oldest written documents, The Bible, tells of the 10 commandments which admonishes people to not kill one another. This was thousands of years before guns came to be.

Even if they were to eliminate firearms people would still find a way to kill others. As far as the Amish schoolhouse killings are concerned, if he hadn't brought a gun he would have use the knife to kill the girls.

Answer 3

I don't know where you can find reliable data on this issue. While we have the right to bear arms in our Constitution, that right was given before we had such organized law enforcement and before we had Supermarkets from which to purchase our meat. In this day and age, we only need a few hunting rifles for recreational hunters. Nobody needs military type weapons or handguns. Their only purpose is to kill people. It's a disgrace that we don't have good and strict gun control. But the NRA will argue that if we put on controls, only the criminals will get weapons, because they will do it illegally. I think that's a lame excuse. No individual needs automatic assault weapons. They should be banned except for military and law enforcement agencies, and people caught with them without a license should be sent to prison! This is just my opinion, however, and for every American who feels as I do, there is probaby another one who disagrees.Mostly, it will be the hawkish macho men who will disagree. Women usually don't need guns to make them happy. Good luck with your research.

Answer 4

generally, the public does not give a hoot either way until the gun is thrust in their precious face! Those that have guns will be effected differently than those without! The National Rifle Association maintains a survey every two years ! Try their website

Answer 5

there is a town just outside of atlanta ga. (kennesaw) i belive. where it is city law that all households have a gun avaliable for protection. This area has the lowest crime rate in that region. guns don't kill people. a man with a good knife and a bit of skill could kill just as many before anyone could stop him. not to mention what a few boxcutters can do.

Answer 6

Gun control laws only works on those who are willing to obey the law., and the law abiding citizen is not the problem.They have ZERO effect on the criminals.

Answer 7

They are not needed. Instead the government needs to enforce the laws it has already enacted.

One other point: I believe it was Adolph Hitler that enacted very, very strict gun control laws.

Answer 8

The ***** youths will never give up their guns, hence more restrictive gun control laws will only affect law abiding citizens.

Most shootings the media doesn't cover, because its blacks killing other blacks or blacks killing whites.

Answer 9

I think that we should have strict gun control. We need to keep guns out of the hands of criminals and children. No assault weapons of any kind should be sold to the general public!

Answer 10

If civillians who go through firearms training aren't to be trusted, what's the difference with police officers?