GALLUP NEWS SERVICE
PRINCETON, NJ -- Motivated in part by the tragic school shootings in Colorado and Georgia this spring, the idea of instituting new and more stringent gun control laws has become one of the most hotly debated issues on the current national agenda. A new Gallup poll shows that Americans strongly support most of the specific types of gun control measures now being debated in Congress, and that support for the idea of a general requirement that all firearms be registered is now higher than it was as recently as last fall.
A Gallup poll conducted in May -- after the Columbine High School shootings -- indicated that almost two-thirds of Americans favored the idea of stricter gun control laws in this country, with most of the rest saying that the laws should be kept as they are, rather than made less strict.
A new Gallup poll conducted June 11-13 asked Americans more explicitly about eight specific gun control proposals that in one way or the other have been discussed or debated in recent weeks. The results:
| % Favor |
% Oppose |
% Don't Know |
|
|---|---|---|---|
| Mandatory prison sentences for felons who commit crimes with guns | 89 | 9 | 2 |
| Mandatory background checks before people -- including gun dealers -- could buy guns at gun shows | 87 | 12 | 1 |
| Requiring safety locks or trigger guards to be included with all new handgun purchases | 85 | 14 | 1 |
| Raising the minimum age for handgun possession to 21 years of age | 82 | 17 | 1 |
| Registration of all firearms | 79 | 20 | 1 |
| Imposing a lifetime ban on gun ownership for any juvenile convicted of a felony | 77 | 21 | 2 |
| Banning the importing of high-capacity ammunition clips | 68 | 29 | 3 |
| Holding parents legally responsible if their children commit crimes with the parents' guns | 57 | 39 | 4 |
The "registration of all firearms" proposition now receives somewhat stronger support than in the past. In 1975, and as recently as last fall, 67% favored this type of broad-based measure. The current higher level of support -- 79% -- may reflect the influence of this spring's tragic school shootings in Colorado and in Georgia.
There are some differences by party in support for the measure, but even among Republicans, support is strong, at 71%, compared to 88% of Democrats. Women are also somewhat more likely than men to support registration of all firearms, by an 88% to 69% margin.
An interesting finding: more than sixty years ago, in 1938, Gallup asked Americans about their support for registration of all "pistols and revolvers" and found 84% support, suggesting that the current sentiment in favor of many of these gun measures does not necessarily represent a wholesale change in the attitudes of the public over the ensuing decades.
The results above are based on telephone interviews with a randomly selected national sample of 1,022 adults, 18 years and older, conducted June 11-13, 1999. For results based on this sample, one can say with 95 percent confidence that the maximum error attributable to sampling and other random effects is plus or minus 3 percentage points. In addition to sampling error, question wording and practical difficulties in conducting surveys can introduce error or bias into the findings of public opinion polls.