Thursday, December 11, 2014

Study Finds Public Support For Gun Rights Has Increased Since Newtown

The Courant

Public support for gun rights has increased since the Dec. 2012 Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting, according to a Pew Research Center study released Wednesday that found, for the first time in more than two decades, that more Americans support gun ownership than gun control.

The waning support for gun control since Newtown's immediate aftermath is not, however, entirely surprising. It mirrors a pattern of public opinion observed after other mass shootings. 

"The pattern is a painfully familiar one," South Texas College of Law Professor Josh Blackman and Yale University student Shelby Baird wrote in "The Shooting Cycle," an article published in May in the Connecticut Law Review. The authors analyzed how the government and the public react to mass shootings and found that after a tragedy, "support for gun control surges." 

"With a closing window for reform, politicians and activists quickly push for new gun laws," Blackman and Baird wrote. "But as time elapses, support decreases. Soon enough, the passions fade, and society returns to the status quo."

The national survey contradicts claims by gun control activists who declared the tragedy a "tipping point" and said that it would move the American electorate to favor stricter firearms regulation. Fifty-two percent of those polled said it was more important to protect the right to own guns, while 46 percent said it was more important to control gun ownership.

Since January 2013, the month after the Newtown tragedy, support for gun rights has increased by 7 percentage points while support for gun control has fallen by 5 percentage points. According to the poll, 57 percent of Americans think that gun ownership does more to protect people, while 38 percent think that it does more to endanger personal safety.

17 comments:

  1. Actually the current majority's belief is a much longer term change. From the Pew Research page,

    "For the first time in more than two decades of Pew Research Center surveys, there is more support for gun rights than gun control. Currently, 52% say it is more important to protect the right of Americans to own guns, while 46% say it is more important to control gun ownership."

    And if you look at the chart over the years, this is where I get to use your line Mike, notice the long term trend. It also appears that minorities have stopped being willing to count on the government for their security,

    "Over the past two years, blacks’ views on this measure have changed dramatically. Currently, 54% of blacks say gun ownership does more to protect people than endanger personal safety, nearly double the percentage saying this in December 2012 (29%)."

    http://www.people-press.org/2014/12/10/growing-public-support-for-gun-rights/

    What really gets me is that the article you used had this quote,

    "Gun control advocates said the Pew survey results were misleading because the polling firm did not ask questions about specific policy.
    "The Pew study sets up a false choice between 'control' and 'rights' — public support for gun rights shouldn't be antithetical to support for sensible gun laws," said Southbury native Stephen Barton, a consultant for Everytown for Gun Safety, a gun violence prevention advocacy group."

    I'm betting they didn't bring up this "false choice" when the numbers supported their side.

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    1. So you are upset because they use the same strategy you use. If the survey goes against your thinking, then the survey is wrong. Your dishonesty makes me laugh sometimes.

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    2. I'm not upset at all Anon. I just disagree with their position. I can either give my opinion or provide data . There is always the potential for the survey to be incorrect, whichever side the numbers support. Though as I observed, this survey has been used here before to support the belief that people ranked gun control over gun rights. Now it seems to have moved in the other direction.
      If you were willing to support the process they used when it agreed with you, it's difficult for you to disagree all of a sudden when the same process comes out with a result you don't like. But then, rights shouldn't be determined by a popularity poll.

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    3. I disagree with you because you have proven you only agree with what supports your pro gun conclusion, that's bullshit. No surprise coming from a guy full of bullshit.

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    4. Is it clear that the wording of the questions was exactly the same?

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    5. "Is it clear that the wording of the questions was exactly the same?"

      Apparently it was Mike,

      "But Doherty also clarified that Pew has asked that same question in periodic surveys since 1993, with the aim of tracking general public sentiment on gun policy over time."

      "Despite the limitations of the particular language of the question, Doherty says, "tracking it over two decades—asking the same question with identical wording—tells you a great deal about changing public sentiment on this issue."

      http://www.motherjones.com/politics/2014/12/pew-poll-gun-rights

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  2. The national survey contradicts claims by gun control activists who declared the tragedy a "tipping point" and said that it would move the American electorate to favor stricter firearms regulation.

    Ah--"tipping point." That just never stops being funny.

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    1. I once again acquiesce to your point, Kurt. The "tipping point" after Newtown seems not to have turned out the way we'd hoped. But, listen, it's not over yet. Your movement is doomed in spite of this mild upswing. Attrition will get ya.

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    2. Sure, remember that the voting for 2014 elections didn't go your way. And I suspect the results for 2016 will either given the change in this country. But keep wishing on that falling star Mike, couldn't hurt I guess.

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  3. More people are seeing the progressive socialist agenda for what it really is..


    MBIAC.......

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    1. What is that agenda according to you My Bias Is Always Criminal?

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    2. No response from the coward.

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  4. The Hartford Courant article, cited here, is good, but the anguished bleating of the editorial is priceless (excerpt):

    The depressing irony on Connecticut's sad anniversary is that the post-Newtown era is seeing increasing support for gun rights. Is this the waning of the Newtown effect?

    For the first time in two decades, there is — tragically — more support for the right to own a gun than for gun control, according to a Pew Research Center survey released this week. Nearly 6 in 10 Americans say gun ownership protects people more than it endangers them. How chilling.


    Weep and wail, crybabies--your tears taste delicious!

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    1. You're tasting the tears? That's creepy, Kurt.

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    2. You don't have to taste any if you don't want. More for me!

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  5. Anybody else here like pretty pictures? This one is a masterpiece.

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    1. By the way, that graph accompanied a Huffington Post article that offers an interesting hypothesis: that mass shootings might reduce support for "gun control":

      Supporters of gun control have sought to highlight the vast number of shootings that have occurred in recent years. But while it seemed to make sense, it may not have been a good strategy. They need to highlight examples where tough gun laws reduced shootings. Otherwise, such publicity may only reduce support for gun control.

      That would put "gun control" advocates in a bind, wouldn't it?

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