In a new poll released by the Hartford Courant Thursday, there's more evidence that 12/14 has changed opinion:
A majority of state residents support a broad array of gun control measures and say the Newtown shootings have swayed their opinions, according to a new University of Connecticut/Hartford Courant poll.
The rest of Connecticut residents are more likely to call for gun restrictions than those polled nationwide among men and women, as well as all age groups, political affiliations, and education levels, the poll showed.
By wide margins, state residents favored banning military-style assault weapons and ammunition magazines with more than 10 bullets, preventing people with mental illness from buying guns, and creating a federal database to track gun sales, among other measures.
Connecticut feels our pain:
57 percent said the shooting deaths of 20 children and six educators Dec. 14 at Sandy Hook Elementary School made them more likely to support gun control, while 35 percent said it made no difference. Nationally, 44 percent said the shooting made them more likely to support gun control.
There's a significant gender gap in that stricter gun control is supported by:
• 73 percent of women
• 55 percent of men
Keep that in mind when you hear Wayne LaPierre contend that we need high capacity magazine so moms can protect their kids.
More data below the fold ...
From the Courant:
Although 80 percent of working-class women in Connecticut — defined as those without a college degree — support stricter gun control, only 47 percent of working-class men support it. In addition, 35 percent of working-class men say the gun laws should be kept as they are and 14 percent say the laws should be made less strict, according to the poll.
Oh, and as to that,
Mother Jones provides us with some great points of interest in this post:
10 Pro-Gun Myths, Shot Down
Fact checking some of the gun lobby's favorite arguments shows they're full of holes.
Here are a few of my favorites:
Myth #5: Keeping a gun at home makes you safer.
Fact-check: Owning a gun has been linked to higher risk of homicide, suicide, and accidental death by gun.
• For every time a gun is used in self-defense in the home, there are 7 assaults or murders, 11 suicide attempts, and 4 accidents involving guns in or around a home.
• 43% of homes with guns and kids have at least one unlocked firearm.
• In one experiment, one third of 8-to-12-year-old boys who found a handgun pulled the trigger.
Myth #7: Guns make women safer.
Fact-check: In 2010, nearly 6 times more women were shot by husbands, boyfriends, and ex-partners than murdered by male strangers.
• A woman's chances of being killed by her abuser increase more than 7 times if he has access to a gun.
• One study found that women in states with higher gun ownership rates were 4.9 times more likely to be murdered by a gun that women in states with lower gun ownership rates.
It may come as no surprise, but LaPierre is wrong in highlighting women, and Connecticut women (see poll) aren't buying it.
I love that my state sees through the smoke and mirrors the NRA is setting up. Let's see how the rest of the country follows our lead.