Most Don't Believe Stricter Gun Control Policies Will Prevent Mass Shootings
Two-thirds (69%) believe Virginia Tech shootings were the actions of a deranged man and could not have been prevented
Most Americans don't believe that stricter U.S. gun control policies would help prevent tragedies such as this week's shootings at Virginia Tech, a new MSN-Zogby poll shows.
While 59% don't think stricter gun control policies would help, 36% believe they could make a difference by helping to prevent future shootings. More than two in three Americans (69%) believe the recent shootings at Virginia Tech were the actions of a deranged man determined to inflict mayhem and could not have been prevented. But 16% believe stricter controls of guns and ammunition would have prevented the tragedy.
Younger adults are more likely than older adults to see stricter gun policies as a means of preventing shootings: among those 18 to 29, 39% say more stringent gun control could avert tragic shootings, compared to 26% of those age 65 and older. But more than half (53%) of those age 18 to 29 say increased gun control won't help, a stance that becomes increasingly prevalent as adults get older. Nearly three in four (72%) of those age 65 and older don't think tighter gun control policies will prevent shootings.
The interactive survey of 1,336 adults nationwide was conducted April 17-18, 2007, and carries a margin of error of +/- 2.7 percentage points.
Even if more people were allowed to carry guns for protection, 54% of Americans don't believe it would help prevent tragedies such as the mass shooting at Virginia Tech, the poll shows. But overall, 38% believe more armed Americans could prevent future tragedies. The vast majority of Democrats (89%) don't believe more Americans carrying guns would prevent such shootings, compared to just one in four (24%) of Republicans. Most Republicans (65%) said they would favor arming more Americans, compared with just 6% of Democrats. Independents were most evenly split - 48% believe allowing more Americans to carry guns would help prevent shootings, while 44% disagree.
While nearly half (45%) of Americans don't believe this week's shootings at Virginia Tech will lead to stricter gun control policies in the U.S., nearly as many (40%) are unsure if gun control policies may be tightened. Most Americans (57%) said they would not agree with lawmakers putting stricter controls on ammunition to get around Second Amendment concerns about restricting access to firearms, but 35% said they would favor such measures.
Nearly a quarter (21%) of Americans believe guns should not be regulated by the government, but 40% believe the federal government should take the lead in regulating firearms. One in four (25%) believe firearm regulation should be left up to the states, and just 7% believe it should be dealt with on the local level.
While there has been much discussion in the media about how Virginia Tech officials and law enforcement responded to the shootings, most Americans said they don't favor a dramatic increase in security on college campuses. Nearly two-thirds (65%) said they disagree that college campuses should significantly increase security to protect against future shootings and similar tragedies, even if it means the cost of attending college must increase. But nearly a third said they believe increased college costs would be acceptable if it meant campuses would be able to afford to put greater security measures in place.
