Gun Laws and Women

GALLUP NEWS SERVICE

A recent Gallup Organization poll for Women.com probed Americans' views on gun control, in advance of this weekend's Million Mom March in Washington, D.C. Here are some key findings of the May 5-7 survey of national adults:

1. There is widespread support for stricter laws regulating the sale of guns.
2. Women are different from men on the gun issue, with women being more pro-gun control.
3. Among women, mothers are no different from non-mothers in their level of support for gun control.
4. Relative to other issues, gun control is not a high-priority election issue for mothers, or for women in general this year.
5. Despite general support for the idea of stricter gun-control laws, women are more likely to say that the way parents raise their children (38%) is the primary cause of gun violence, rather than the availability of guns (24%).
6. What Americans want is a reduction in gun violence, not necessarily strict gun control. Thus, it appears that despite Americans' easy support for making gun laws more strict, gun-control politics can be finessed. The politician who emphasizes stricter enforcement can have almost as much success in attracting support, including support from women and mothers, as does the candidate who insists new laws are necessary to control gun crimes.
7. Support for gun control is not rooted in personal experience with gun crimes. Very few mothers say that a gun has ever been used to threaten either themselves or their own child.
8. A majority of mothers (57%) would prohibit their children from playing with toy guns; close to half (44%) say that toy guns contribute to criminal behavior later in life; and 76% would favor laws that prohibit the sale of toy guns that "closely resemble" real guns.
9. When forced to choose between the two hot-button issues of abortion and gun control, women are more likely to say the candidates' stands on gun control will be an important factor in determining their vote for president this year (51%), rather than abortion (31%).

Survey Methods
The findings below are based on telephone interviews with a national sample of 1,031 national adults, aged 18 and over, conducted May 5-7, 2000. The sample includes 538 women and 493 men. For results based on the total sample of national adults, one can say with 95% confidence that the error attributable to sampling and other random effects could be as much as plus or minus three percentage points. Results based on the sample of men and women have a margin of sampling error of plus or minus five percentage points. For smaller subgroups of the population (e.g., women with children under 18), the sampling error would be greater.

If you had to choose, which of the following issues is likely to be more important in determining your vote for president this year -- where the candidates stand on abortion or where the candidates stand on gun control?

 

	Stance on abortion	Stance on gun control	SAME (vol.)	NEITHER (vol.)	No opinion
2000 May 5-7
Total	28%	53	9	8	2
Men	24%	55	7	12	2
Women	31%	51	11	5	2

In general, do you feel that the laws covering the sale of firearms should be made more strict, less strict, or kept as they are now?

 

	More strict	Less strict	Kept as now	No opinion
	%	%	%	%
2000 May 5-7
Total	62	5	31	2
Men	52	8	39	1
Women	72	2	24	2
2000 Apr 7-9	61	7	30	2
1999 Dec 9-12	60	10	29	1
1999 Aug 3-4	66	6	27	1
1999 Jun 25-27	62	6	31	1
1999 May 23-24	65	5	28	2
1999 Apr 26-27	66	7	25	2
1999 Feb 8-9	60	9	29	2
1995 Apr 23-24	62	12	24	2
1993 Dec 17-19	67	7	25	1
1993 Mar	70	4	24	2
1991	68	5	25	2
1990	78	2	17	3

Thinking about how the gun issue might affect your vote for major offices, would you -- only vote for a candidate who shares your views on gun control, would you consider a candidate's position on gun control as just one of many important factors when voting, or would you not consider gun control a major issue?

 

	Only vote for candidate who shares views	Consider it as one of many important factors	Not consider a major issue	No opinion
2000 May 5-7
Total	12%	63	22	3
Men	11%	62	27	*
Women	13%	64	19	4
1999 Jun 25-27	15%	62	21	2
1999 May 23-24	15%	64	19	2

Do you personally own a handgun, rifle, shotgun or any other kind of firearm?

 

	Yes	No	No opinion
2000 May 5-7
Total	34%	64	2
Men	46%	51	3
Women	22%	76	2

Which of the following do you think is the primary cause of gun violence in America -- the availability of guns, the way parents raise their children, or the influences of popular culture such as movies, television, and the Internet?

 

	Availability of guns	Way parents raise their children	Influences of popular culture	OTHER (vol.)	No opinion
2000 May 5-7
Total	21%	45	26	6	2
Men	18%	51	23	5	3
Women	24%	38	29	7	2

Would you be more likely or less likely to vote for a presidential candidate who took each of the following positions on guns, or would that issue not have much effect on your vote? First,… . Next, … . (Rotated)

 

More likely

Less likely

Not much effect

No opinion

A. A candidate who favors stricter registration of all handguns

 

2000 May 5-7
Total	65%	17	16	2
Men	58%	25	16	1
Women	72%	11	15	2

B. A candidate who favors stricter penalties for those who commit crimes with guns

 

2000 May 5-7
Total	84%	4	10	2
Men	83%	5	11	1
Women	86%	2	9	3

C. A candidate who favors limiting gun purchases to no more than one per month

 

2000 May 5-7
Total	43%	26	27	4
Men	41%	28	28	3
Women	45%	25	25	5

D. A candidate who favors allowing citizens with special gun permits to carry a concealed handgun

 

2000 May 5-7
Total	35%	40	20	5
Men	40%	33	23	4
Women	30%	46	18	6

E. A candidate who favors requiring gun manufacturers to install built-in trigger locks on all handguns

 

2000 May 5-7
Total	66%	14	17	3
Men	62%	18	18	2
Women	70%	11	16	3

F. A candidate who does not favor new gun laws, but who instead emphasizes stricter enforcement of current gun laws

 

2000 May 5-7
Total	58%	20	18	4
Men	60%	20	18	2
Women	57%	21	17	5

G. A candidate who favors new gun laws, in addition to supporting stricter enforcement of current gun laws

 

2000 May 5-7
Total	58%	22	16	4
Men	50%	29	17	4
Women	66%	16	14	4

Not including military combat, have you ever used a gun to defend yourself, either by firing it or threatening to fire it?

 

	Yes	No	No opinion
2000 May 5-7
Total	7%	93	*
Men	9%	91	*
Women	5%	95	*

Not including military combat, has a gun ever been used to threaten you in a robbery, mugging or some other criminal situation?

 

	Yes	No	No opinion
2000 May 5-7
Total	14%	85	1
Men	18%	82	*
Women	10%	89	1

Not including military combat, has a gun ever been used to threaten one or more of your children in a robbery, mugging or some other criminal situation?

BASED ON -- 358 -- PARENTS WITH CHILDREN UNDER 18; +/- 6 PCT PTS

 

	Yes	No	No opinion
2000 May 5-7
Total	2%	98	--
Men	1%	99	--
Women	3%	97	--

If you had a young child right now, or if you do have a young child, would you allow or prohibit that child from playing with toy guns?

 

	Allow	Prohibit	DEPENDS (vol.)	No opinion
2000 May 5-7
Total	44%	52	2	2
Men	56%	40	2	2
Women	33%	62	3	2

As you may know, some states have passed laws that prohibit the sale of toy guns that closely resemble real guns. Do you favor or oppose such laws?

 

	Favor	Oppose	No opinion
2000 May 5-7
Total	70%	26	4
Men	63%	34	3
Women	76%	20	4

Do you believe the use of toy guns by children is or is not an important factor contributing to criminal behavior when those children reach adulthood?

 

	Yes, an important factor	No, not an important factor	No opinion
2000 May 5-7
Total	37%	59	4
Men	30%	68	2
Women	44%	50	6

* Less than 0.5%
(vol.) Volunteered response