By Dave Workman
Editor-in-Chief
A disturbing new statewide poll in Virginia, released by the Institute for Policy and Opinion Research (IPOR) at Roanoke College, shows 71 percent of respondents favor the licensing of gun owners, while 67 percent support mandatory gun registration.
According to the Shore Daily News, 59 percent support a ban on so-called “assault rifles” and 50 percent want to ban semiautomatic handguns.
Surprisingly, 49 percent say protecting the right to own firearms is more important while 48 percent—virtually a dead heat—think controlling gun ownership is more important.
The poll was conducted among 800 Virginia residents Feb. 9 and 16.
Other poll results include the revelation that 56 percent of respondents think enforcement of existing laws is “more likely to reduce gun-related violence, while 42 percent think more laws are the answer, according to a Roanoke College news release.
Forty-nine percent think tougher gun laws would make them safer, but 51 percent think more laws would not make a difference (35%) or less safe (16%).
Also, survey respondents are “skeptical” about making it more difficult for people to legally carry guns, with 39 percent saying it would make them safer but 32 percent say it would make no difference and 29 percent say it would make them less safe, the survey said.
In a news release, the college quoted Dr. Harry Wilson, interim director for IPOR and author of three books on gun politics. His observation : “Virginians clearly support a variety of gun control measures, but many question their efficacy. A majority supports bans on essentially any and all semi-automatic firearms. But many think current gun laws aren’t the cause of mass shootings, and less than half think that stricter laws will make them safer. There is also strong support for gun registration and owner licensing, regulations that are anathema to many Second Amendment supporters.”
Apparently lost somewhere in the discussion was whether any gun laws would truly make a difference, a point which journalist David Mastio—writing an Op-Ed at the Kansas City Star—brought up in his lead paragraph.
“Whenever there’s an excuse,” Mastio wrote, “the gun-grabbers of the political world propose new controls on firearms owned by the law-abiding instead of focusing their ire on the criminals who pulled the trigger after laws already on the books went unenforced. It is easy to take a tough on crime pose by proposing new laws, a little more complicated to actually do some good.”
Mastio is a former deputy editorial page editor for USA TODAY and the Washington Times.
