New Gallup Poll: Opposition to Handgun Ban Hits Record-High 74%

[RonPaulFanInGA]

http://www.gallup.com/poll/159569/americans-stricter-gun-laws-oppose-bans.aspx


Gallup finds public opposition to a broad ban on the possession of handguns at a record-high 74%. Conversely, the 24% in favor is the lowest recorded since Gallup first asked the question in 1959.

http://sas-origin.onstreammedia.com/origin/gallupinc/GallupSpaces/Production/Cms/POLL/bwgwzu0dp0sfxb6mph_vla.gif

[coastie]

Funny, I was walking by a TV the other day at a friends house, and the channel reported the exact opposite was true.

[sailingaway]

Were they scared to ask about other sorts of gun bans?

Note that Monday, Christmas Eve the UN approved moving ahead on a small arms treaty.

[Deborah K]

This has to be fixed. I've been in 2 gun stores, and a bow and arrow store in the last week and all 3 were crazy busy. I've heard other people say the same thing. And Mark heard on the radio a few days ago that gun sales are waaaaay up across the nation.

[Lucille]

Were they scared to ask about other sorts of gun bans?

Note that Monday, Christmas Eve the UN approved moving ahead on a small arms treaty.


Opponents of Assault Rifle Ban Still Outnumber Proponents

Two aspects of the Newtown shooting that have been a focal point of recent discussions about gun laws are the semi-automatic rifle and high-capacity ammunition magazines used by the shooter. Several state and federal lawmakers have already announced that they will seek to ban both from the commercial market.

Nevertheless, Americans' views on the sale of assault rifles are unchanged. The slight majority, 51%, remain opposed to making it illegal to manufacture, sell, or possess semi-automatic guns known as assault rifles.

http://sas-origin.onstreammedia.com/origin/gallupinc/GallupSpaces/Production/Cms/POLL/j3e8ffwyz0-u8l-wanpj_w.gif

[kahless]

Funny, I was walking by a TV the other day at a friends house, and the channel reported the exact opposite was true.

That is because the media is in an all out assault mode on our Constitutional rights and will say or do anything for their cause.

[Acala]

The media is crazy over gun control but the public does not appear to be buying into it. And that is good news because the scum in Congress are not willing to risk losing their seats just to placate the media.

[Zippyjuan]

Funny, I was walking by a TV the other day at a friends house, and the channel reported the exact opposite was true.

Asking about automatic weapons can give a different answer than asking about hand guns. People seem to differentiate between restrictions on access and types of weapons than a total ban on guns.
http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-34222_162-57560980-10391739/poll-inconclusive-support-for-gun-control/
A bit more from the poll:

Ask Americans whether they support the idea of stricter laws governing the sale of firearms, and they'll offer a fairly robust "yes," according to the results of a new Gallup poll.

But ask them whether those stricter laws should include a ban on the sale of semi-automatic weapons, like the one used in last week's massacre of 27 people in Newtown, Conn., and you'll get a far more ambivalent response.

That is the paradox confronting advocates for tougher gun control laws - proposals restricting the sale and use of firearms tend to be more popular in theory than in execution.

A Gallup survey conducted just days after Newtown found that 58 percent of American adults support stricter laws covering the sale of firearms, up from 43 percent in 2011. Thirty-four percent believe the laws should be kept as they are, and only six percent believe they should be made less strict. By this measure, at least, the massacre at Sandy Hook Elementary School has strengthened support for gun control.

But advocates for stricter gun laws continue to face opposition on other fronts, according to a few other findings from Gallup's poll. Only 44 percent of respondents voiced support for a ban on semi-automatic weapons, one commonly-floated solution in the aftermath of Newtown. Fifty-one percent were opposed to such a ban, and both numbers have scarcely changed in the last few years.


And a whopping 74 percent of respondents - a record high - opposed a ban on the possession of handguns, compared to only 24 percent who supported such a ban. A handgun ban has not entered the post-Newtown dialogue on gun control, and given numbers like these, that does not seem likely to change any time soon.

Gallup's poll surveyed 1,038 adults between December 19 and 22 and had a margin of error of plus or minus four percent.

[coastie]

Asking about automatic weapons can give a different answer than asking about hand guns. People seem to differentiate between restrictions on access and types of weapons than a total ban on guns.
http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-34222_162-57560980-10391739/poll-inconclusive-support-for-gun-control/
A bit more from the poll:


I know, I was being sarcastic.

Just put gas in the car, every single newspaper up there made it sound like everyone wants guns banned here. Never mind sales going through the roof.:rolleyes:

[TheBlackPeterSchiff]

This is seriously some scary times.

[Acala]

Is everyone reading the OP correctly? The vast majority OPPOSE a handgun ban.

[Tod]

Is everyone reading the OP correctly? The vast majority OPPOSE a handgun ban.

yeah, but then look at the graph about semi-automatics.

ask the right question and get the answer you want.

[Tod]

http://sas-origin.onstreammedia.com/origin/gallupinc/GallupSpaces/Production/Cms/POLL/j3e8ffwyz0-u8l-wanpj_w.gif

I'd say this reversal is due to a growing number of people believing that government DOES represent a threat to freedom.

[Deborah K]

Is everyone reading the OP correctly? The vast majority OPPOSE a handgun ban.

Thanks, I'm one of the knuckleheads who read it wrong. :o

[TheTexan]

This is seriously some scary times.

May you live in interesting times

[Neil Desmond]

http://www.gallup.com/poll/159569/americans-stricter-gun-laws-oppose-bans.aspx



http://sas-origin.onstreammedia.com/origin/gallupinc/GallupSpaces/Production/Cms/POLL/bwgwzu0dp0sfxb6mph_vla.gif
Good!

[Neil Desmond]

This has to be fixed. I've been in 2 gun stores, and a bow and arrow store in the last week and all 3 were crazy busy. I've heard other people say the same thing. And Mark heard on the radio a few days ago that gun sales are waaaaay up across the nation.
GOOD!

[opal]

they only asked the people that were home by their phones instead of out buying firearms

[Neil Desmond]

This is seriously some scary times.
I think I disagree here - all of this is good news to me! Before all this I was thinking that those were scary times. Look at it from an optimistic perspective. Live free or die, friends.

[Neil Desmond]

Is everyone reading the OP correctly? The vast majority OPPOSE a handgun ban.
Wait...what?! People are misreading that?

[Matt Collins]

This has to be fixed. I've been in 2 gun stores, and a bow and arrow store in the last week and all 3 were crazy busy. I've heard other people say the same thing. And Mark heard on the radio a few days ago that gun sales are waaaaay up across the nation.A friend of mine in Florida who owns a gun shop told me that they were completely out of inventory! :eek::eek::eek::eek:

[angelatc]

Asking about automatic weapons can give a different answer than asking about hand guns. People seem to differentiate between restrictions on access and types of weapons than a total ban on guns.
http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-34222_162-57560980-10391739/poll-inconclusive-support-for-gun-control/
A bit more from the poll:

Zippy. don't you think this means that people are ok with the fuzzy theory, but when it comes down to the nuts and bolts, they're not. Abortion seems to get the same kind of polling results. A majority of people oppose it, but they don't support the specific laws that would end the legal procedures.

[Pericles]

they only asked the people that were home by their phones instead of out buying firearms

And prices are bat shit crazy. $300 for an M16 bolt carrier group, $600 for a Colt M16A2 upper assembly, and $80 for a single 30 round magazine.I usually pay $125, $350 and $10 respectively.