By Dave Workman | Senior Editor
Only 33 percent of Americans think tougher gun laws would have prevented the mass shooting at the Washington Navy Yard, according to a new national Rasmussen survey, while 59 percent of those who participated think stricter laws would have prevented the attack.
The gunman, identified as Aaron Alexis, 34, was armed with a Remington Model 870 Express pump-action shotgun, loaded with buckshot. He apparently got at least one handgun and spare ammunition from a security officer he murdered. Early reports by mainstream press outlets that he was armed with an AR-15 rifle were erroneous.
According to Rasmussen, only 15 percent of survey respondents thought it was “at least somewhat likely” that stronger gun control laws would have prevented the shooting. But 26 percent were convinced that tougher laws were not at all likely to have stopped Alexis.
One of the more interesting revelations of the survey was that 62 percent of the respondents do not trust the government to fairly enforce gun control laws, while only 26 percent do have that trust. Twelve percent aren’t sure.
The survey also revealed that 71 percent of Americans believe it is not possible to completely prevent mass shootings and only 16 percent think it is. Nineteen percent believe tougher gun laws would reduce the odds of such shooting incidents, while 13 percent of the respondents think other measures, such as limits on violent video games and movies would be effective.
Fifty-seven percent of those surveyed think there needs to be more attention to mental health treatment.
Rasmussen conducted the survey of 1,000 adults Sept. 17-18, the two days following the Navy Yard attack. The survey work was conducted by Pulse Opinion Research LLC.
The survey also revealed continuing partisan divisions on guns. Sixty-nine percent of those identified as Democrats favor tougher gun laws, but 79 percent of those identified as Republicans and 53 percent of independents do not believe stricter gun laws would have prevented the Navy Yard shooting.
One –fourth of those surveyed think the nation would be safer if only the police and military were allowed to have guns, but 46 percent think the country would be less safe under such a scenario.
Only 23 percent of survey participants would feel safer moving to a “gun free” neighborhood, Rasmussen reported.
And, while there is still strong support for background checks, Rasmussen says 51 percent of the survey respondents do not believe such checks will reduce violent crime.
Good news for gun rights advocates is that 74 percent of Americans believe citizens have a constitutional right to own a firearm, but 44 percent are concerned that the government may try to confiscate private firearms over the next generation.
