http://dallasnews.com/texas_southwest/104029_guns_30tex.html
<BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial">quote:</font><HR>Gun registration supported in poll
Majority backs concealed-weapons permits
06/30/2000
By Erik Rodriguez / The Dallas Morning News
In Texas, a state with a gun in nearly every other household, most residents
support the right to carry a concealed weapon. But an overwhelming
majority also supports registration and trigger locks for all handguns,
according to The Scripps Howard Texas Poll released Friday.
The telephone survey of 1,000 adults statewide taken from May 22 to
June 16 revealed:
62 percent believe they should be allowed to carry concealed handguns
with a permit.
46 percent think there should be more restrictions on gun sales, while 35
percent believe there should be no change.
63 percent favor restricting handgun purchases to once a month.
Three-fourths of the respondents said all handguns should be registered.
74 percent said all guns sold in the United States should be equipped
with built-in trigger locks.
The poll has a 3 percent margin of error, meaning the results could vary by
that much in either direction.
The findings have not fluctuated much since the poll was last done in
October, but the new figures should still generate interest, said Ty
Meighan, director of the Texas Poll in Austin.
"It is interesting that in a state known as a pro-gun state, Texans are willing
to see more restrictions on gun sales," Mr. Meighan said. "They favor a lot
of measures that you would think anti-gun supporters would favor."
The number of Texans supporting tighter gun control has remained
relatively steady, poll officials said. Last fall, 50 percent of the poll's
respondents favored increased restrictions on gun sales; in 1995, that
number was 46 percent.
Gun control advocates applauded the results of the poll Thursday, saying
that Texans' recent opinions are validating their efforts.
"When people are polled and we talk to them, we see that they're realizing
there needs to be some kind of government controls on firearms," said
Kristina Woods, executive director of the Houston-based Texans Against
Gun Violence Education Fund.
"For the most part, that's going to include handguns, and to us, these
numbers are not particularly surprising," she said.
Gun owners constitute 48 percent of all households in Texas, down from
55 percent last fall. It is only the second time the figure has dropped below
50 percent since the poll began tracking the statistic in 1985.
Mr. Meighan said that could represent the beginning of a decreasing trend
in gun ownership statewide. "That is significant, and it's something we will
need to continue to watch," he said. "If it consistently stays below 50
percent, then there may be something going on here."
But Randy Gibson, executive director of the Texas State Rifle Association,
said those figures could be deceptive because respondents may have
withheld information about whether they owned a gun.
"A lot of gun owners, because of what has been happening in this country,
are kind of wary about what people know," said Mr. Gibson, who
suggested that the number of gun owners in Texas should be higher. "I
would have to question their methodology."
The percentage of gun households in Texas is only slightly higher than the
nationwide average of 45 percent, according to an ABC News poll
conducted in May.
The Texas Poll revealed that outside of military combat, only 18 percent of
Texans sampled had ever had a gun pulled on them during a robbery or a
criminal situation.
Nine percent said they had to use a gun or threatened to use one to defend
themselves.
The Texas Poll also showed that 58 percent of white households owned
guns, compared with 28 percent of black households and 23 percent of
Hispanic households.
According to the poll, the "typical" Texas gun owner is a Republican in his
50s, with an income of more than $60,000.[/quote]
------------------
¡Viva la RKBA!
Bulldawg: NRA, GOA, TSRA, Shiner Bock Connoisseur.
Bulldawg's Firearms Page
<BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial">quote:</font><HR>Gun registration supported in poll
Majority backs concealed-weapons permits
06/30/2000
By Erik Rodriguez / The Dallas Morning News
In Texas, a state with a gun in nearly every other household, most residents
support the right to carry a concealed weapon. But an overwhelming
majority also supports registration and trigger locks for all handguns,
according to The Scripps Howard Texas Poll released Friday.
The telephone survey of 1,000 adults statewide taken from May 22 to
June 16 revealed:
62 percent believe they should be allowed to carry concealed handguns
with a permit.
46 percent think there should be more restrictions on gun sales, while 35
percent believe there should be no change.
63 percent favor restricting handgun purchases to once a month.
Three-fourths of the respondents said all handguns should be registered.
74 percent said all guns sold in the United States should be equipped
with built-in trigger locks.
The poll has a 3 percent margin of error, meaning the results could vary by
that much in either direction.
The findings have not fluctuated much since the poll was last done in
October, but the new figures should still generate interest, said Ty
Meighan, director of the Texas Poll in Austin.
"It is interesting that in a state known as a pro-gun state, Texans are willing
to see more restrictions on gun sales," Mr. Meighan said. "They favor a lot
of measures that you would think anti-gun supporters would favor."
The number of Texans supporting tighter gun control has remained
relatively steady, poll officials said. Last fall, 50 percent of the poll's
respondents favored increased restrictions on gun sales; in 1995, that
number was 46 percent.
Gun control advocates applauded the results of the poll Thursday, saying
that Texans' recent opinions are validating their efforts.
"When people are polled and we talk to them, we see that they're realizing
there needs to be some kind of government controls on firearms," said
Kristina Woods, executive director of the Houston-based Texans Against
Gun Violence Education Fund.
"For the most part, that's going to include handguns, and to us, these
numbers are not particularly surprising," she said.
Gun owners constitute 48 percent of all households in Texas, down from
55 percent last fall. It is only the second time the figure has dropped below
50 percent since the poll began tracking the statistic in 1985.
Mr. Meighan said that could represent the beginning of a decreasing trend
in gun ownership statewide. "That is significant, and it's something we will
need to continue to watch," he said. "If it consistently stays below 50
percent, then there may be something going on here."
But Randy Gibson, executive director of the Texas State Rifle Association,
said those figures could be deceptive because respondents may have
withheld information about whether they owned a gun.
"A lot of gun owners, because of what has been happening in this country,
are kind of wary about what people know," said Mr. Gibson, who
suggested that the number of gun owners in Texas should be higher. "I
would have to question their methodology."
The percentage of gun households in Texas is only slightly higher than the
nationwide average of 45 percent, according to an ABC News poll
conducted in May.
The Texas Poll revealed that outside of military combat, only 18 percent of
Texans sampled had ever had a gun pulled on them during a robbery or a
criminal situation.
Nine percent said they had to use a gun or threatened to use one to defend
themselves.
The Texas Poll also showed that 58 percent of white households owned
guns, compared with 28 percent of black households and 23 percent of
Hispanic households.
According to the poll, the "typical" Texas gun owner is a Republican in his
50s, with an income of more than $60,000.[/quote]
------------------
¡Viva la RKBA!
Bulldawg: NRA, GOA, TSRA, Shiner Bock Connoisseur.
Bulldawg's Firearms Page
