Poll: Little Change In Views On Handguns

After Virginia Tech Shooting Spree, Most Still Want Stricter Gun Laws But Oppose Banning All Handguns

(CBS)  There's been little change in Americans' views on gun control in the wake of last week's shooting rampage at Virginia Tech, according to a CBS News/New York Times poll.

A majority favors tighter handgun laws, but not in higher numbers than in the past. More than half said stricter laws could have helped prevent at least some of the violence at Virginia Tech, but Americans continue to oppose a ban on all handguns.

In all, 66 percent of those surveyed think there should be stricter laws covering the sale of handguns, while just 4 percent say the laws should be less strict. Twenty-eight percent think the laws should be kept as they are.

Those numbers are about the same as in August 1999, four months after the
shootings at Columbine High School in Colorado, when 67 percent said they favored stricter handgun laws.

SHOULD LAWS COVERING THE SALE OF HANDGUNS BE …?

Now
More strict
66%
Less strict
4%
Kept as they are
28%

8/1999
More strict
67%
Less strict
5%
Kept as they are
23%

Just 33 percent favor a ban on the sale of all handguns except those issued to police, while 64 percent oppose such a ban.

Support for a handgun ban has decreased somewhat in recent years. In April 1999, just days after the shootings at Columbine, 43 percent said they favored banning handguns.

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Read the complete CBS News/New York Times poll results.

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On the question of whether stricter laws could have helped limit the violence at Virginia Tech, 53 percent said tougher laws would have had some impact, although only 32 percent said stricter gun laws would have helped a lot.

Four in 10 said stricter gun laws would have had no impact.

A BAN ON THE SALE OF ALL HANDGUNS

Now
Favor
33%
Oppose
64%

April 1999
Favor
43%
Oppose
53%

One in four Americans thinks letting people carry concealed handguns would have reduced some of the violence at Virginia Tech. But the same number think it would have made things worse.

Not surprisingly there are sharp partisan differences on the gun control issue. Seventy-eight percent of Democrats support tougher handguns laws, compared with 51 percent of Republicans. Eighty-two percent of Republicans oppose a handgun ban, compared with 55 percent of Democrats.

For detailed information on how CBS News conducts public opinion surveys, click here.

This poll was conducted among a random sample of 644 adults nationwide, interviewed by telephone April 20-22, 2007. The error due to sampling for results based on the entire sample could be plus or minus four percentage points. The error for subgroups is higher.

[kindrox]

It is interesting that some people are fixated on the 32 dead. I am reminded of Stalin's quote "A single death is a tragedy, are million deaths is a statistic." How many people have died as a result of Bush's lies, how many die in swimming pools, how many lives are saved 1-2 at a time because of guns, ect.

A lot of small minded people are so focused on the tragedy and comepletely ignore the "statistic".

[erasmus6]

jimibear

I agree with your post at 5:51 pm. But about your post at 5:54: "Gun owners I know tend to have a very healthy respect for firearms and how dangerous they can be....."
How about the ones you don't know?
How many children do you think have died because their parents or their friend's parents have not secured their guns properly OR "thought" they had secured them properly.
You can do background checks and what ever on people before they get a gun, but because everybody owns one, what is stopping some mentally disturbed person from breaking into a home, perhaps your home, and stealing a gun. Unless a gun is locked up in a safe, it ain't secure.

[jimibear]

Let me say, by the way - I am not in favor of banning guns. But I am in favor of more stringent background checks, mandatory safety training, a longer waiting period, and actual enforcement of existing laws already on the books.

I don't think responsible gun owners would object to measures that would not keep guns out of the hands of sane, reasonable people, but might block someone with a history of mental problems getting one. Gun owners I know tend to have a very healthy respect for firearms and how dangerous they can be in the hands of the untrained or unstable.

[jimibear]

OldThought,

When you worked in a prison, what would have been the chances of an inmate killing 32 others with a shiv made out of a toothbrush?

Yes, people kill people. However, guns make the task both easier and more efficient. The argument that if one restricts access to guns one also needs to restrict access to all other items which could be used to kill is a spurious one. How often do you hear about a "drive-by hanging" or a "mass choking"? You don't.

[katg21]

Oh? And you can tell the difference between an honest American gun owner and those who are (going to) commit mass shootings?

Posted by phil-in-Fin at 03:57 PM : Apr 25, 2007

No, so why don't we just assume that all gun owners are bad then and take everyones rights away.

[phil-in-fin]

mike71067 wrote,

"In case you haven't noticed, it's not the honest American gun owners (or "gun nuts" as you call them) that are committing mass shootings."

Oh? And you can tell the difference between an honest American gun owner and those who are (going to) commit mass shootings?

You should get a job as soothsayer at a gun-shop.

[bud452]

Huh? What exactly do you want? You live in a country that basically lets you do whatever it is you want and you complain about it. You don't like religion then don't practice it, you don't want a gun don't get one, start your own business if you want; make millions then you can give your employees what they deserve. I'm sick of the *** complaining! I guess you don't want your fellow americans to have their right to choose unless it suits your ideals. Pretty sorry if you ask me"

You GO Katg!! Good with the bad...action to reaction....live and let live....there is NOTHING AND NO ONE THAT IS PERFECT....including, perhaps especially, those idiots that cannot conceive that your position, or my position, is just as valid as theirs.......I WANT the right to have firearms....NOT to take, but to protect, and possibly provide.....

[itwasntme000]

Posted by erasmus6 at 02:43 PM : Apr 25, 2007
+ report abuse

haah erasmus6
yea this bush administration is pretty dang close to making the american people revolt.(i think neway)
If he had like 3 more years left. their is no way he would last that long. either by impeachment or by force.

[erasmus6]

processor2

I agree with itwasntme000's post at 9:58.

And I have a question: Did the 2 burglars have weapons? Or did you shoot them because you were afraid they did?
Where I live most burglars are not necessarily carrying a weapon. They are coming to steal something, not to kill someone. They most often come when you are not home and if they found someone to be home, then they would leave. Most are not wanting a confrontation. But like I said that is my country not yours.

[erasmus6]

ATTENTION: GOVERNMENT OF AMERICA!

Read post by itwasntme000 1:24 pm
"Us being armed can overthrow the government."

Do you see what you have done by allowing all your citizens to carry guns?
If you do something your citizens do not agree with watch out! hahaha

[itwasntme000]

Posted by deijo at 01:08 PM : Apr 25, 2007

Its not as clear cut a issue as you make it seem.
As gunownerdan has pointed out on several posts on this thing. People are allowed to own guns to protect themselves. To protect them selves against others(is the only thing you see it as) but we have them to protect ourselves against our own government to. As in, if somehow our government got way outta hand and whatnot and we the people all of a sudden lost any power that we once had. Us being armed can overthrow the government. Us being un-armed will be at bay.
Or another scenario off of the top of my head, what if we got invaded by some country (canada or something hahaha) we the people can and will be armed.

[deijo]

81 people are shot dead every day in this country. Gun dealers sell guns. If more criminals have them, 'stands to reason' more 'law-abiding citizens'--you, me, the rest of us--need them. Win-win situation. Lots of profit for the gun makers and sellers either way.
But look at the statistics: 29,569 people were killed by guns in the United States in 2004, the most recent year for which statistics are available. Most of these guns came from gun dealers and were legally acquired at the outset. To put this death rate in perspective, 19,965 occupants of motor vehicles were killed in road traffic accidents in the same year. We are deluding ourselves if we continue to allow the discussion to be about motive, and allowing the gun industry, which profits from gun sales, to decide the issue.

[Netterz]

PEOPLE KILL PEOPLE. If beleiving guns are the cause,better start crying that everything on the planet be removed,anything can kill. Control over pillows, knives, ink pens, rope, bottles, cars, given some thought,can be used to kill. I worked in a prison,saw first hand how much can be done with anything you can lay hands on. Lets just cut our hands off & get frontal lobotomies, thats what you need to kill with. Weapons dont kill,criminal mindset kills. Will always be market to sell guns to whoever wants one underground. Most shot guns can be sawed off to be the same size as handguns.No matter how MANY laws are passed, criminals will always be a step ahead. The bleeding hearts are out there making sure criminals have more rights than joe citizen, crime increases. Do you have a free housing, heat,air conditioning,food,free medical/medicine,free legal&college? Our seniors&disabled live far below poverty level,with out these freebies. Makes me sick. Is punishment living better in prison than 50% of the population? Cho chose to kill,he could have used any means to do it. Keep pushing for laws that take rights away,we will all be living in silence in a box, because we will offend SOMEONE, violate there 'rights'. Dont know about you all, but I am tired of my rights being taken away, when illegal aliens&criminals have more rights and freedoms than I do?

[Netterz]

PEOPLE KILL PEOPLE. If beleiving guns are the cause,better start crying that everything on the planet be removed,anything can kill. Control over pillows, knives, ink pens, rope, bottles, cars, given some thought,can be used to kill. I worked in a prison,saw first hand how much can be done with anything you can lay hands on. Lets just cut our hands off & get frontal lobotomies, thats what you need to kill with. Weapons dont kill,criminal mindset kills. Will always be market to sell guns to whoever wants one underground. Most shot guns can be sawed off to be the same size as handguns.No matter how MANY laws are passed, criminals will always be a step ahead. The bleeding hearts are out there making sure criminals have more rights than joe citizen, crime increases. Do you have a free housing, heat,air conditioning,food,free medical/medicine,free legal&college? Our seniors&disabled live far below poverty level,with out these freebies. Makes me sick. Is punishment living better in prison than 50% of the population? Cho chose to kill,he could have used any means to do it. Keep pushing for laws that take rights away,we will all be living in silence in a box, because we will offend SOMEONE, violate there 'rights'. Dont know about you all, but I am tired of my rights being taken away, when illegal aliens&criminals have more rights and freedoms than I do?

[mike71067]

"More guns should be brought into the homes of gun-lovers and their families. That way, evolution of the human species can be accelerated as the herd thins itself out. More guns means more people dead by guns. So lets get more guns to the gun nuts."
Posted by russellvbrla at 01:29 PM : Apr 24, 2007

Ok, put down the crack pipe for a second. In case you haven't noticed, it's not the honest American gun owners (or "gun nuts" as you call them) that are committing mass shootings. You are far too ignorant to even take part in this discussion. Sit in the corner with your shape sorter and let the grown-ups debate this issue.

[katg21]

Like a President who is decidedly fascist and bent on taking us to war with everyone who looked cross-eyed at him! Like a country that was progressing backward into darkness from to much religion, less enviormental laws, less personal freedom, less employee rights and etc! A gun is no longer that important to me!
Posted by grumpas at 09:52 AM : Apr 25, 2007

Huh? What exactly do you want? You live in a country that basically lets you do whatever it is you want and you complain about it. You don't like religion then don't practice it, you don't want a gun don't get one, start your own business if you want; make millions then you can give your employees what they deserve. I'm sick of the *** complaining! I guess you don't want your fellow americans to have their right to choose unless it suits your ideals. Pretty sorry if you ask me.

[itwasntme000]

processor2

Well your point is noted but you also coulda hid somewhere and not had to go and kill them. 2vs1 right?? you are probably lucky that you didn't get killed because of your overzealous attitude.

[grumpas]

I guess in the 80's with the advent of Reaganism I grew up and a gun no longer was that important to me! There are a lot more important issues out there to grab my attention! Like a President who is decidedly fascist and bent on taking us to war with everyone who looked cross-eyed at him! Like a country that was progressing backward into darkness from to much religion, less enviormental laws, less personal freedom, less employee rights and etc! A gun is no longer that important to me!

[processor2]

You CANNOT stop criminals by disarming potential victims.

For example:
Va. Tech was declared a "gun-free zone" and look what happened.

Also, my GUN SAVED MY LIFE once when two burglars entered my house one night when I was still in it.
(my car was in the shop, so it looked like no one was home)
The burglars didn't succeed. Fortunately, I live in a state where it is okay to defend myself, and no charges were filed against me.

...

[katg21]

More guns should be brought into the homes of gun-lovers and their families. That way, evolution of the human species can be accelerated as the herd thins itself out. More guns means more people dead by guns. So lets get more guns to the gun nuts.
Posted by russellvbrla at 01:29 PM : Apr 24, 2007

Or, move to Canada.