Polls & Research

Americans Call for Stricter Gun Legislation

(Angus Reid Global Monitor) - Many adults in the United States believe their country needs new guidelines for the sale of firearms, according to a poll by Ipsos-Public Affairs released by the Associated Press. 47 per cent of respondents think gun laws should be made more strict.

On Apr. 16, Cho Seung-hui killed 32 people—fellow students and teachers—at the Virginia Tech University campus in two separate incidents, before turning his gun on himself. The shooting is the deadliest of its kind in American history.

In April 1999, two students, Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold, killed 12 classmates and a teacher before killing themselves in a high school in Columbine, Colorado. The Centers for Disease Control reported in 2002 that there were 220 school-related shootings in the United States from 1994 to 1999, resulting in 253 deaths. 62 per cent of respondents believe gun violence is a very serious problem in the U.S. today.

The U.S. Constitution's Second Amendment guarantees Americans the right "to keep and bear arms." Some American states have enacted their own gun control regulations, independent of existing federal legislation.

On Apr. 19, former Arkansas governor Mike Huckabee, who is seeking the Republican Party's presidential nomination in 2008, said he favours allowing faculty members or students to carry concealed weapons on campus, adding, "If somebody had been able to stop the shooter before he was able to kill that many people, there may not have been that many (casualties). I am certainly mindful there will be people who will use this horrible tragedy to try to make an issue about further restricting the sovereign rights of law-abiding citizens."

Polling Data

Should gun laws be made more strict, less strict, or remain as they are?

How serious a problem is gun violence today?