Mike
Site Co-Founder
The 23 July 2016 MSN article reporting on the July 2016 Associated Press gun rights poll (see article at http://www.msn.com/en-us/news/us/ap...un-laws/ar-BBuIcWn?li=BBmkt5R&ocid=spartandhp) - executed amidst the emotional shock of the Orlando nightclub murders by a madman claiming ISIS terrorist ties -
includes so many flawed and bizarre survey questions that it should not be cited except to point out how NOT to do a public policy poll; e.g., should "gun manufacturers or sellers be liable if guns are later used in a crime" - come on, per se liability for wholly 3d party actions after purchasing lawful items is not attachable under American jurisprudence.
Similarly, the question "do restrictions on gun rights infringe upon the Second Amendment is silly" - the answer can only be 100% yes, as any restriction is of course, an infringement - a correct question along these lines would have to be specific and related to a constitutional standard; e.g., does the restriction infringe upon the constitutional right for "the
individual right to possess and carry weapons in case of confrontation," see District of Columbia v. Heller (2008).
Moreover, this AP poll flies in the face of decades of gun rights polling by the highly respected non-partisan PEW Research Organization, which has been tracking Americans' opinions on gun rights and other matters since the early twentieth century.
See PEW report at http://www.hngn.com/articles/52537/...or-gun-rights-control-first-time-20-years.htm reporting that new PEW polling revealed that, inter alia:
"While 52 percent of Americans polled by the Pew Research Center said it's important to protect the right to own guns, 46 percent of respondents prioritized more control of gun ownership, Breitbart reported. Since the question was asked in 1993, this is the first time that a majority has held a position of defending gun rights instead of "[controlling] gun ownership,"
"For the first time in more than 20 years, a poll has indicated that a majority of Americans are more concerned with protecting gun rights than passing more gun control, a finding that also reveals "a substantial shift in attitudes since shortly after the Newtown school shootings."
And,
"The biggest shift has come in the black community, with 54 percent believing guns enhance personal safety."
"Additionally, a new and even larger majority of 57 percent respondents said gun ownership does more to protect personal safety against crime than endanger it, up from 48 percent in 2012, according to the Huffington Post. This also explains the recent increase in gun sales."
"Meanwhile,
“while Hispanics were the most pro-gun control demographic by a nearly 3-to-1 margin in the poll, conservative Republicans were the most pro-gun rights demographic by a margin of more than 4-to-1.”
In any event, the long term polling trend of increasing support for gun rights over time reported by the PEW Research Organization are likely to remain positive, despite the well known "survey bias" effect that tends to cause people to shy away from completely truthful answers on controversial questions, e.g., "do you agree that people should be able to carry guns in public?," "do you support abortion on demand," "do you believe in God," etc.
includes so many flawed and bizarre survey questions that it should not be cited except to point out how NOT to do a public policy poll; e.g., should "gun manufacturers or sellers be liable if guns are later used in a crime" - come on, per se liability for wholly 3d party actions after purchasing lawful items is not attachable under American jurisprudence.
Similarly, the question "do restrictions on gun rights infringe upon the Second Amendment is silly" - the answer can only be 100% yes, as any restriction is of course, an infringement - a correct question along these lines would have to be specific and related to a constitutional standard; e.g., does the restriction infringe upon the constitutional right for "the
individual right to possess and carry weapons in case of confrontation," see District of Columbia v. Heller (2008).
Moreover, this AP poll flies in the face of decades of gun rights polling by the highly respected non-partisan PEW Research Organization, which has been tracking Americans' opinions on gun rights and other matters since the early twentieth century.
See PEW report at http://www.hngn.com/articles/52537/...or-gun-rights-control-first-time-20-years.htm reporting that new PEW polling revealed that, inter alia:
"While 52 percent of Americans polled by the Pew Research Center said it's important to protect the right to own guns, 46 percent of respondents prioritized more control of gun ownership, Breitbart reported. Since the question was asked in 1993, this is the first time that a majority has held a position of defending gun rights instead of "[controlling] gun ownership,"
"For the first time in more than 20 years, a poll has indicated that a majority of Americans are more concerned with protecting gun rights than passing more gun control, a finding that also reveals "a substantial shift in attitudes since shortly after the Newtown school shootings."
And,
"The biggest shift has come in the black community, with 54 percent believing guns enhance personal safety."
"Additionally, a new and even larger majority of 57 percent respondents said gun ownership does more to protect personal safety against crime than endanger it, up from 48 percent in 2012, according to the Huffington Post. This also explains the recent increase in gun sales."
"Meanwhile,
“while Hispanics were the most pro-gun control demographic by a nearly 3-to-1 margin in the poll, conservative Republicans were the most pro-gun rights demographic by a margin of more than 4-to-1.”
In any event, the long term polling trend of increasing support for gun rights over time reported by the PEW Research Organization are likely to remain positive, despite the well known "survey bias" effect that tends to cause people to shy away from completely truthful answers on controversial questions, e.g., "do you agree that people should be able to carry guns in public?," "do you support abortion on demand," "do you believe in God," etc.
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