Gun Survey Response Data
This survey of twenty questions created by the author was sent to 63 people, of whom 28 responded. Some chose more than one answer. Some struggled with understanding whether their response was about “what is” or “what should be.” The instructions could have been clearer. Results are being posted on my blog and being sent to each respondent.
- What is the feeling among foreign countries toward the USA gun situation?
*they do not care. [1]
*they are stunned at what we accept in terms of deaths by guns. [24]
*they wonder when their own outbreaks might happen. [1]
*they respect the American reasoning regarding gun rights. [0]
*they know the USA is highly individualistic so are not surprised at the results. [6]
Respondent Comment: They are surprised that the USA suffers from a lot of mass shootings; they do not think it is a gun problem but more of a mental health problem.
Author’s Comment: There is an overwhelming consensus in the answer to this question.
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- Historical: the right to bear arms
*at the time of it becoming a right, the available armament was a musket; the right now extends to any make of firearm that has been invented since then. [13]
*individuals should be allowed to purchase bump stocks that convert semi-automatics to automatics. [0]
*individuals with three felonies on their record should not be allowed to purchase any guns. [10]
*individuals with repeated violations of domestic violence orders should not be allowed to have guns. [19]
*individuals buying guns should sign a document indicating their reason for wanting a gun. [6]
*individuals should be allowed to carry guns openly in public places. [0]
*individuals should be subject to a thorough background check and required to undergo training. [18]
Respondent Comment: There should be a mental health screening.
Author’s Comment: There is much support here for different restrictions.
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- Contemporary School-based Strategies
*all students should be trained in handling guns. [4]
*every school should have a metal detector at the entrance. [11]
*teachers should carry guns. [1]
*parents should be required to receive active shooter training. [6]
*none of the above [4]
*no answer [3]
Respondents Comments: (a) Students and schools are the victims here. No teachers should have to carry guns in order to teach academic content. Schools are suffering with this issue because no collective will exists to deal with gun control. (b) School personnel should be trained in dealing with crises, including shooter situations. There should be protocols for getting a fast police response. (c) I’m not sure I see the appropriate strategy nor what the right one should be. I would prefer for armed security guards to be on school premises. Submit teachers to an extensive background check and allowed to have access to a gun (not so sure). (d) Federal and state funding should be allocated to researching root causes of school violence and implementing curbing measures.
Author’s Comment: Lots of frustration is evident in the answers, non-answers, and comments.
- The Gun Business
*all dealers should be treated equally. [7]
*dealers who sell guns that are disproportionately involved in crimes should have their licenses revoked. [9]
*dealers have nothing to do with how their product is used. [6]
*if drug retailers have been found liable for their participation in overprescribing opioids and thus contributing to addiction, gun dealers should have the same legal exposure. [18]
*there is regulation of ghost guns; a lower court had said, “a weapon parts kit is not a firearm.” [0]
*technological changes, e.g., a smart gun that can only be fired by its owner, will become widespread. [1]
Respondent Comment: All dealers should have to meet major requirements to become dealers and should be required to have very strict regulations on who they sell guns to.
Author’s Comment: In light of current litigation trends, the biggest response is apropos.
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- Why the USA is different
*the country was born in violence and has had few periods of time when violence was absent. [5]
*it is more concerned with individual rights than are its counterparts. [14]
*people come to this country to be safer; having a gun is consistent with this motivation. [2]
*it desires to maintain a historical right even as other historical situations have been rectified. [9]
*it is fearful that the evident rancorous political split eventually will lead to violence. [7]
*it predominantly treats drug addiction as a crime, not a health problem. [10]
*its extreme financial inequality inevitably means a desire for retribution and the use of guns. [2]
*NRA’s outgoing president, now accused of misusing funds, quintupled membership from 1991 to 2023. [8]
Respondents Comments: (a) Gun ownership is a Constitutional amendment; it is ridiculously hard to change. (b) In the USA, there are no citizenship obligations (mandatory service) ala Switzerland and Israel. (c) The right to bear arms against aggressive, capricious, overweening government (monarchic) authority was encoded in the DNA of the country and was further built into the confederate states pre and post civil war. And the modern Tea Party/anti-government parties and players continue to worry about invasion of their homes and therefore there’s no political will to mess with the core. (d) Mental health is a HUGE issue in this country.
Author’s Comment: A wide variety of thoughts about this question are evident.
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- Regarding your current community, would you rather:
*live in one without any guns. [16]
*live in one with a gun in every house. [1]
*have neighbors you trust, regardless of their gun ownership. [10]
*have a restriction on what type of gun your neighbor could own. [9]
Author’s Comment: The preference is clear.
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- With respect to age:
*if you can die for the country at 18, you should be allowed to have a gun. [5]
*there should be a minimum age of 21. [8]
*until the head of a household is at least 30, there should be a limit of one gun per household. [5]
*each state should set its own age requirement, and it need not connect to other age restrictions. [5]
*no answer [5]
Respondents Comments: (a) I don’t agree much with any since I don’t believe guns should be allowed to be purchased, but since that is the case, then the head of household option is what I would pick. (b) Brain development isn’t finished until age 25 I think. That would be a good minimum age and there should be a restriction on the quantity and types of guns. (c) Nobody should own a gun unless they are in the military or a police force. (d) Gun ownership should be consistent with science regarding brain formation and the capacity to make responsible decisions that take into account consequences.
Author’s Comment: The comments bring science into the mix of decision making.
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- The political reaction to mass shootings is:
*no response. [4]
*a belief that governments can do nothing about the situation. [8]
*outrage by gun reform advocates. [15]
*a belief that the NRA has 4.2 million members and will make any substantive legal changes impossible. [7]
*a repeat of the saying that “guns do not kill people, only people kill people.” [13]
*a flood of opinion editorials from reform advocates. [5]
Respondent Comment: Thoughts and Prayers.
Author’s Comment: Multiple words, minimal actions.
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- The local reaction to mass shootings at schools is:
*initial or renewed interest in gun reform. [15]
*receipt of an influx of money from elsewhere. [2]
*greater attention to the need for mental health counselors. [10]
*disbelief that it could happen in their community. [15]
*outrage at the inability of law enforcement to minimize the damage, i.e., the body count. [6]
*debate over the particulars of a suitable memorial for the victims. [1]
Author’s Comment: Societally there is more focus on mental health.
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- Regarding a hypothetical community with half the median income of your current area and with half the population being minority, would you rather:
*live there with nobody owning a gun. [12]
*live there with every house having a gun. [2]
*the composition of the neighborhood has no bearing on my attitude toward guns. [16]
*have a restriction on what type of gun your neighbor could own. [8]
Author’s Comment: Belief that the composition of the neighborhood has no bearing is inconsistent with other studies of how people react to changed environments.
- The second Amendment has communal language as well as individual rights.
The former reads: “a well-regulated militia being necessary to the security of a free state.”
In reading this, what is your reaction:
*it does not change any of my underlined material above. [16]
*it provides precedent for laws regarding open carry that enhance security for all. [2]
*gun ownership makes us all safer. [0]
*anybody can pick certain historical language to justify any position they wish to take. [14]
Respondents Comments: (a) The lines between state and federal are so blurred that this does not make sense in today’s discerning of what the security of a free state means.(b) Mass shootings and individual shootings by handgun users are the cost of protection against government takeover.
Author’s Comment: Contrary to the responses above, it is the “precedent” response that is being folded into the on-going case for gun reform.
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- There were 45,000 gun deaths in 2022. Which is the correct breakdown:
*half suicides, 40% homicides, 10% other. [5]
*half homicides, 20% suicides, 10% accidents, 20% law enforcement. [2]
*54% suicides, 43% homicides, 1% accidents, 2% law enforcement [10]
*suicides plus homicides: 60%, 20% accidents, 20% law enforcement. [7]
*no answer [4]
Author’s Comment: The correct answer was chosen by ten respondents.
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- Assume what is called a Red Flag Situation, in which an individual discloses to their psychiatrist that they have on-going anger issues and are thinking of shooting somebody. The psychiatrist:
*does nothing. [4]
*tells the police. [14]
*tells the police only if the statement by the patient is repeated three times. [3]
*asks the patient if there are guns in their house [16]
Respondent Comment: Depends on the gun laws where the psychiatrist practices, could be any of the responses above are what actually happen; I would want the guns unavailable to the patient at least for a time.
Author’s Comment: It is unclear what the psychiatrist should do, seemingly even when red flag procedures have been openly discussed.
Assume the police have received the information above. They:
*do nothing. [6]
*tell a judge. [4]
*put a patrol car at the patient’s house. [2]
*look at the patient’s criminal record and see if there is reasonable cause to arrest them. [7]
*refer the matter to an existing committee of mental health and police professionals. [14]
Respondents Comments: (a) Tell a judge and request that the guns be confiscated. (b) Threats should be investigated and patients questioned; guns should be removed due to history and threats. (c) Tell a judge in order to execute a search warrant. If a minor, open communication with parent(s) and school.
Author’s Comment: The lead answer needs to have a sense of urgency; time can be of the essence.
Assume the judge has received the information above. They:
*do nothing [6]
*issue a warrant for the individual’s arrest. [3]
*issue a ruling empowering the police to remove weapons from the patient’s house. [16]
*issue a ruling that puts the patient on a “cannot buy guns” list sent to every gun dealer in the state. [15]
Respondents Comments: (a) Issue a ruling empowering the police to conduct a search warrant, and if warranted, remove weapons from the patient’s house. (b) Issue a ruling committing the patient to at least a 72-hour hold allowing the person to talk about their issues.
Author’s Comment: The preference in these responses is for action to be taken.
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- The number of guns in circulation is (in millions):
*262 [1]
*312 [2]
*415 [14]
*506 [9]
*no answer [2]
Author’s Comment: The top response number is accurate.
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- In 2005, the federal ban on selling AR-15 type assault weapons ended. Since then, how many of these guns have been sold (in millions):
*14 [1]
*52 [9]
*36 [5]
*25 [12]
*no answer [1]
Author’s Comment: The top response number is accurate.
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- Which line represents the gun ownership rate per 100 population for USA, Yemen, Serbia:
*82, 46, 112 [2]
*121, 53, 39 [25]
*54, 89, 101 [1]
Author’s Comment: The top response number is accurate.
_____________________________________________________________________________________________ . S. A parent:
*Has no responsibility for any child of mine who is at least 18 years of age and therefore an adult [1]
*Has responsibility for any child of mine up to age 25 who is living in my house [6]
*if my child, whether living with me or not, is seeing a mental health professional, I must report it [2]
*if my child, whether living with me or not, is making violent threats, I must report it [12]
*if my child, whether living with me or not, is seeing a mental health professional and making violent threats, I must report it [12]
*If guns in my house are properly stored under lock and key, I need not report anything, regardless of what my child is saying [0]
*If my child is making violent threats and there are guns in the house, I must report it [10]
Author’s Comment: There is lack of clarity on the responsibility of the parent. However, a recent court case did find a mother guilty of involuntary manslaughter when it was her son who had pulled the trigger.
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- Concerning rising suicide rates and guns:
*there is no connection. [3]
*greater availability of guns has meant more suicides. [24]
*if people simply locked up their guns, there would be fewer suicides. [2]
Respondents Comments: (a) The guns make the suicide quicker; however, if a person wants to commit suicide, they will find a way no matter if a gun is not available. (b) Suicides will happen regardless of whether or not guns are available.
Author’s Comment: what is missing in the question is the issue of rates of suicide intention versus actual suicides and whether ease of obtaining guns means the carried out rate is greater than would otherwise be the case.