After the tragic shooting in Colorado that killed at least 12 people and injured at least 58 more last Thursday, 41 percent of Americans said stricter gun control laws would have no impact on violent crime.
The national survey of 1,000 adults, conducted by Rasmussen July 20-21, has a margin of error of three percentage points. Thirty-four percent said stricter gun control laws would decrease violent crime and 19 percent believe violent crime would increase.
The survey also found 51 percent of Americans believe the U.S. does not need stricter gun control laws.
These findings seem to contradict notions of at least one media personality who has all but declared war on guns.
CNN’s Piers Morgan talked over his conservative guest, pro-gun author John Lott, on his show Monday evening.
“I am laboring under a massive misapprehension,” Morgan said while Lott was talking.
“I still haven’t been able to respond to [the other guest’s] charges,” Lott complained.
“Well you’re not giving me a sensible answer,” Morgan responded.
“Look, what I’m saying is, you cannot find one academic criminologist or economist who’s found that the assault weapons ban, either when it was put in place or removed, had any impact on crime rates,” Lott finished.
Congress passed a 10-year ban on 19 kinds of military-style assault weapons in 1994, and Democrats lost the House a few months later. In 2004, the ban ended without a serious attempt at extension.
Morgan continued to shout about slaughtering and assault rifles before concluding “I want to ban all assault rifles.”
Most Democrats, 68 percent according to the survey, favor stricter gun control laws like Morgan, while 74 percent of Republicans and 55 percent of Independents oppose them.
Forty-nine percent of women favor stricter gun control laws, and 62 percent of men oppose them.
Just 38 percent of Americans report owning a gun. Seventy-one percent of gun-owners oppose stricter gun control laws, and 83 percent said greater gun restrictions would either increase violent crime or have no impact.
Fifty-six percent of non-gun owners favor stricter gun control, and 48 percent said greater restrictions would reduce violent crime. Only 14 percent of gun-owners agree.
Videography by Sally Nelson