Second Amendment Foundation: Zogby Poll Confirms Public Supports Individual Gun Rights

6/6/2002

From: Alan Gottlieb of the Second Amendment Foundation 425-454-7012

BELLEVUE, Wash., June 6 -- A new Zogby International poll showing that 75 percent of the American public believes the Second Amendment protects their individual right to keep and bear arms proves that gun ownership is a "mainstream value."

Zogby released the results of a poll taken for the Second Amendment Foundation (SAF) showing that the majority of respondents agree with the Justice Department's recently announced position that the Second Amendment guarantees individuals the right to keep and bear arms.

"This poll shows just how far out of the political and social mainstream gun control advocates have strayed," said SAF founder Alan Gottlieb. "American citizens clearly understand the Constitution and the Bill of Rights is about individual liberty, not some mythical collective privilege."

According to the Zogby poll of 1,015 registered voters, which has a margin of error plus or minus 3.2 percent, 84 percent of the respondents identifying themselves as Republicans agree with the Justice Department's position. Seventy-nine percent of those living in the West, South and Central/Great Lakes regions agree with the individual right interpretation, while 60 percent of respondents living in the East also agree.

Among those most likely to disagree with the individual right position are a minority of Democrats (29 percent), Catholics (30 percent), residents of the East (36 percent), people with annual household incomes of $75,000 and above (29 percent) and seniors age 65 and over (26 percent).

"These poll results prove gun controllers have lost political ground because the central plank of their platform is a losing proposition," Gottlieb observed. "Even among Democrats, senior citizens and the middle class, fewer than one in three voters accepts the so-called 'collective right' theory promoted by the most ardent gun grabbers. This poll indicates the anti-gunners are not even in step with their traditional core groups. It is debatable whether they ever have been.

"It's no surprise," he added, "that Democrats, facing this fall's elections, are running away from the gun control agenda their party has steadfastly pushed for the last 40 years. They've lost elections because they've lost credibility, and that's because they clearly have lost touch with the voters they are supposed to represent."

The Second Amendment Foundation is the nation's oldest and largest tax-exempt education, research, publishing and legal action group focusing on the Constitutional right and heritage to privately own and possess firearms. Founded in 1974, The Foundation has grown to more than 600,000 members and supporters and conducts many programs designed to better inform the public about the consequences of gun control. SAF has previously funded successful firearms-related suits against the cities of Los Angeles; New Haven, Conn.; and San Francisco on behalf of American gun owners. Current projects include several concealed carry lawsuits, a lawsuit against the cities suing gun makers & an amicus brief & fund for the Emerson case holding the Second Amendment as an individual right. For more information, please visit http://www.saf.org.