Proving once again that when it comes to the Second Amendment, the American people have an overabundance of common sense.
Nearly twice as many voters say there would be less violent crime if more law-abiding Americans owned guns, than if guns were banned.
In addition, while American voters generally favor strengthening gun laws, 71 percent do not think tougher laws can stop shootings like the one last month in Newtown, Connecticut. Some 22 percent say new laws can prevent the next Sandy Hook.
These are just some of the findings from a Fox News poll released Friday.
Click here for full poll results.
Majorities of gun owners (81 percent), non-gun owners (58 percent), Democrats (58 percent), independents (72 percent) and Republicans (85 percent) say the people who do these kinds of things “will always find the guns” to commit violent acts.
The Fox News poll asked a similar question after previous shootings and the one-in-five believing that tougher laws could make a difference has mostly held steady.
After the 2007 shooting at Virginia Tech, 19 percent of voters felt stricter laws could help. That went to 21 percent after the Tucson shooting involving Arizona Rep. Gabrielle Giffords (2011) and 22 percent in the new poll.
Some polls have shown an increase in support for specific gun control measures. The Fox poll found some predictable results:
The most popular suggestions are requiring criminal background checks on all gun buyers (with 91 percent favoring this proposal), providing services for mentally ill people who “show violent tendencies” (89 percent) and improving enforcement of existing laws (86 percent)
Large majorities also favor mandating mental-health checks on gun buyers (83 percent) and requiring criminal background checks on anyone buying ammunition (80 percent).
Smaller majorities favor putting armed guards in schools (60 percent), banning high-capacity clips (56 percent), banning assault weapons (54 percent), and reducing “access to violent movies and video games” (52 percent).
The least popular suggestion tested — and the only one a majority opposes — is allowing teachers and school officials to carry guns on school grounds (42 percent favor, 52 percent oppose).
Some kind of background check legislation is likely to reach at least the Senate floor and perhaps even the House. But there is a surprising lack of support for banning high capacity ammunition clips. And then, most encouraging of all, there’s this:
And by an 11 percentage-point margin, voters consider protecting the constitutional right to own a gun more important than protecting citizens from gun violence (51-40 percent).
There was an understandable emotional reaction in the immediate aftermath of the Sandy Hook tragedy. But Americans appear to have regained their common sense for the most part and looks like they are ready to oppose the worst of what the president and his allies in the gun control lobby want. President Obama is swimming upstream in trying to ban assault weapons and large ammunition clips. And if the American people get their way, they will hand the president a stinging rebuke in trying to pass his proposals in Congress.
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