Polls: 63% of Americans say stricter gun control laws won't prevent criminals from getting guns; Only 40% believe UBC necessary

by Chad D. Baus

A recent poll by Reason-Rupe found that, when it comes to keeping guns out of the hands of criminals, 63 percent of Americans remain unconvinced that tighter restrictions on buying and owning guns will be effective.

From the article:

Seven in ten Republicans say stricter gun regulations would not be effective while just 26 percent say they would be effective. Democrats are more divided on the issue. While typically supportive of increased gun control, more than half (53 percent) say tighter restrictions on buying and owning guns would not prevent criminals from obtaining the weapons while 44 percent say they would prevent criminals from getting guns. Two-thirds of independents don't expect tighter restrictions to be effective while 30 percent think they will.

While it's good news that majorities of Republicans, Democrats and independents all believe additional gun control laws would be ineffective at preventing criminals from gaining access, the poll suggests that the nation's colleges and universities might want to offer more logic classes to their students.

As education increases, so do expectations that tighter gun regulations will effectively keep guns from criminals. For instance, 29% of those with high school degrees or less believe such policies would be effect compared to 41 percent of those with post-graduate degrees.

Nevertheless, the poll found that majorities of all educational groups don't expect tougher gun laws to prevent criminals from obtaining guns.

A separate national scientific poll released recently by the National Shooting Sports Foundation found that support for so-called "universal background checks" at gun shows is not what gun control proponents would like the general public to believe.

After being informed that the vast majority of firearms sales at these shows are transacted by licensed retailers that already conduct such checks through the National Instant Criminal Background Check System (NICS) as required by federal law, only 40 percent of respondents said that extension of "universal background checks" to private transactions at gun shows are necessary.

The poll results stand in contrast to the vague claim often reported in the media and attributed to gun control proponents without important contextual detail that 90 percent of Americans surveyed support "universal background checks."

The Americans polled also said by a combined 74 percent margin that conducting background checks against an incomplete database was not effective at all or not very effective while 54 percent said that requiring background checks for transferring guns between friends and family members was not at effective at all or not very effective in reducing violent crime.

The poll also discovered that 92 percent of Americans agree that the states should submit all records of persons federally prohibited from owning a firearm to NICS.

What these and other polls taken throughout the year have proved is that once the American people get over their emotional reaction to an event like this, they again begin applying logic. And when that happens, support for gun control falls apart.

And that's why gun control extremists have made it their express policy to strike immediately after a tragic event occurs, seeking to use "pain and anguish," "death, injury and heartache" to advance their gun control agenda.

Chad D. Baus is the Buckeye Firearms Association Secretary, and BFA PAC Vice Chairman.