[Congressional Record Volume 145, Number 78 (Thursday, May 27, 1999)]
[Senate]
[Page S6441]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




1998 NATIONAL GUN POLICY SURVEY OF THE NATIONAL OPINION RESEARCH CENTER

 Mr. LAUTENBERG. Mr. President, the National Opinion Research 
Center at the University of Chicago recently released an informative 
survey which documents the attitudes of Americans on the regulation of 
firearms. I think that my colleagues will find the results of this 
survey to be valuable, and I ask that an executive summary of the 
survey be printed in the Record.
  The summary follows:

1998 National Gun Policy Survey of the National Opinion Research Center 
                          Released May 6, 1999


                           executive summary

       Results from a national survey indicate strong public 
     support--including substantial majorities among gun owners--
     for legislation to regulate firearms, make guns safer, and 
     reduce the accessibility of firearms to criminals and 
     children.
       Key findings of the 1998 National Gun Policy Survey 
     include:
        Three-fourths of gun owners support mandatory 
     registration of handguns, as does 85 percent of the general 
     public.
        Government regulation of gun design to improve 
     safety gets support from 63 percent of gun owners and 75 
     percent of the general public.
        Two thirds of gun owners and 80 percent of the 
     general public favor mandatory background checks in private 
     handgun sales, such as gun shows.
       The survey was conducted by the National Opinion Research 
     Center at the University of Chicago in collaboration with the 
     Johns Hopkins Center for Gun Policy and Research with funding 
     from the Joyce Foundation. The third in a series of surveys 
     of American attitudes toward gun polices, it shows a 
     continuation of an upward trend in public support for more 
     control over firearms and more attention to making all 
     firearms safer.
       Other key findings include:
        Three quarters of those surveyed want Congress to 
     hold hearings to investigate the practices of the gun 
     industry, similar to the hearings held on the tobacco 
     industry.,
        Sixty percent of Americans want licenses to carry 
     concealed weapons to be issued only to those with special 
     needs, e.g., private detectives. And 83 percent of the public 
     believes that public places, including stores, theaters and 
     restaurants, should be able to prohibit patrons from brining 
     guns on the premises.
        Americans strongly support measures to keep guns 
     from lawbreakers. 90 percent favor preventing those convicted 
     of domestic violence from buying guns, 81 percent would stop 
     gun sales to those convicted of simple assault, and 68 
     percent to those convicted of drunk driving.
        People are willing to pay higher taxes for 
     measures to reduce gun thefts and root out illegal gun 
     dealers, and they express a willingness to pay higher prices 
     for guns that are designed for greater safety.
        Sixty-nine percent of those surveyed opposed 
     importing guns from a country where those guns could not be 
     legally sold. A total of 55 percent are against all gun 
     imports.
       Nearly nine out of ten Americans believe that all new 
     handguns sold should be childproof, that is, designed so that 
     a child's small hands cannot fire them.
       Eighty percent of the people asked say owners should be 
     liable for injuries if a gun is not stored to prevent misuse 
     by children.
       When asked if there should be a mandatory background check 
     and a five-day waiting period in order to purchase a gun, 82 
     percent of the people owning a gun, as well as 85 percent of 
     the general public, agreed that position was a good idea.
       Nearly one out of ten adults report having carried a 
     handgun away from home during the last months. About half of 
     those did not have a permit for doing so, and about half of 
     the handguns were loaded.
       Just under half of adults who own a handgun obtained the 
     gun through a ``less regulated source,'' defined as 
     pawnshops, private sales, gifts and inheritances.
       The data were collected in the fall of 1998, before the 
     recent school shootings in Colorado and Georgia, but 
     following similar highly publicized shootings in Arkansas, 
     Kentucky and Oregon. The telephone survey of 1,200 U.S. 
     adults has a margin of error of three percent. The final 
     report is entitled ``The 1998 National Gun Policy Survey of 
     the National Opinion Research Center: Research Findings.''
       Affiliated with the University of Chicago, NORC has 
     conducted national surveys in the public interest for over 55 
     years. As a pioneer in the field of survey research, NORC is 
     noted for the high quality of its survey designs, methods, 
     and data.
       The Johns Hopkins Center for Gun Policy and Research, 
     established in 1995, is dedicated to preventing gun-related 
     deaths and injuries. Located in The Johns Hopkins School of 
     Public Health, the Center applies a science-based, public 
     health approach to gun violence. It provides accurate 
     information on firearm injuries and gun policy; develops, 
     analyzes, and evaluates strategies to prevent firearm 
     injuries; and conducts public health and legal research to 
     identify gun policy needs.
       Based in Chicago with assets of $947 million, the Joyce 
     Foundation supports efforts to strengthen public policies in 
     ways that improve the quality of life in the Great Lakes 
     region. Since 1993, it has granted over $13 million to 
     support public health approaches to reduce gun violence.
       Full results of the survey are posted on the NORC web site 
     at: http://www.norc.uchicago.edu/.

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