Gun control demographics
Poll: Tragedy Hasn’t Changed Views On Guns
Despite Va. Tech Shootings [what media bias? – ed], Nation Remains Split On Gun Laws, No Rise In Demand For Tighter ControlsThe nation is profoundly split along gender, racial and other lines over gun violence and what the government should do to control it, despite near-universal sorrow over the Virginia Tech shootings, an AP-Ipsos poll has found.
Women and minorities are far likelier than men and whites to view gun violence as a major problem, to worry about being shot, and to want stricter firearms laws, said the survey, which was taken after the killings.
Fault lines also exist by political party and where people live, with Democrats and city dwellers taking a far dimmer view of guns than Republicans and suburban and rural residents. Though similar divisions have long existed, the findings spotlight how each group’s views remain entrenched despite this week’s shootings, the worst gun slaying in modern American history.
“It’s just too easy for anybody to go in and buy a gun,” said Daphne Renolds, 59, an office manager from McDonough, Ga., a respondent in the AP survey.
Though Monday’s horrific killings of 32 students and teachers — plus the gunman — were fresh in people’s minds, there was scant movement in their attitude toward gun laws. Forty-seven percent said firearm controls should be tightened, 38 percent said they should remain unchanged and 11 percent said they should be loosened — about the same as in a January survey.
Six in 10 women think gun laws should be toughened, nearly double the proportion for men. Fifty-five percent of minorities favor stricter legal requirements, compared with 44 percent of whites.
[…]
Nearly 60 percent of Democrats favor stricter gun laws, almost double the number of Republicans, with more women in both parties supporting tougher standards.
April 24th, 2007 at 2:29 am
Well, that was weird. Do people actually have the word “biased” tattooed on their foreheads like that on purpose?
Let’s see if I can rewrite that for them with my kind of bias:
Despite the recent mass unarmed victim hood, Nation remains split on Second Amendment and right to carry laws. No rise in demand for expansion of CCW to college campuses.
The nation is profoundly split along gender, racial and other lines over criminal violence and what the government should do to enable citizens to protect themselves, despite near-universal sorrow over the Virginia Tech shootings, an AP-Ipsos poll has found.
Men and whites are far likelier than women and minorities to view self reliance as a solution to the problem of armed criminal psychopaths, to be concerned about what steps they should take protect their families and loved ones from the deranged, and to want the government to admit it cannot control such persons when they snap and lose it, said the survey, which was taken after the killings.
Fault lines also exist by political party and where people live, with Republicans and suburban and rural residents taking a dimmer view of gun control than Democrats and city dwellers. Though similar divisions have long existed, the findings spotlight how each group’s views remain entrenched despite this week’s shootings, among the worst slayings in modern American history.
“It’s just too easy for politicians and bureaucrats to take away my right to protect myself,” said David Peabody, 47, and office manager at Davenport Marine, a respondent in the AP survey.
Though Monday’s horrific killings of 32 students and teachers by the suicidal nut-job were fresh in people’s minds, there was scant movement in their attitude toward gun laws. Forty-nine percent said that firearms controls should not be tightened, with twenty percent of those in favor of loosening government controls on firearms, while only forty-seven percent thought that ordinary citizens should be given less responsibility for their own safety — about the same as in a January survey.
About six in 10 men think gun laws should favor responsible citizens, nearly double the proportion of hand-wringing women. Fifty-six percent of whites favor the responsible citizen model, while, oddly, only 44 percent of people of oppression would rather protect themselves than leave the job up to “The Reverend” Al Sharpton and his ilk.
[…]
Nearly 60 percent of Republicans favor gun laws consistent with notions of individual liberty, almost double the number of Democrats, with more men in both parties supporting freedom and individual responsibility.