Iowa Poll: Most believe more gun control won't reduce mass shootings

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A majority of Iowans believe increased controls on gun purchases won't reduce mass shootings, according to a new Des Moines Register/Mediacom Iowa Poll.

Fifty-six percent of Iowa adults say additional controls won't lead to fewer mass shootings. Forty percent believe stricter controls would reduce them. Four percent aren't sure.

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Poll respondent Joi Schwery, 43, a clinical nurse and paramedic from Panama in western Iowa's Shelby County, said she believes violent people would still find a way to illegally obtain deadly weapons.

"Obviously, the majority of gun owners who obtain them legally are not going around and shooting a lot of people," said Schwery, a political independent and a gun owner who said she has a permit to carry a concealed weapon.

But respondent Al Hartl, 60, an industrial manufacturing worker from Marion, favors tighter restrictions on firearms purchases, although he doesn't believe the move would have a dramatic impact immediately.

"The fact that we have made it easier for you or me or my neighbor to go out and buy an assault rifle has put a larger number of weapons out there," said Hartl, who is a Democrat and said he has a shotgun at home. He explained how he took an online course to obtain a concealed carry permit and had no trouble passing the test.

"I never bought the handgun," Hartl said. "No, I just wanted to see how easy it was. It was crazy easy."

The Iowa Poll comes amid a national debate over gun control that comes on the heels of two high-profile mass shootings: 26 killed at a church in Sutherland Springs, Texas, on Nov. 5 and 59 dead and more than 500 injured at a Las Vegas concert on Oct. 1. Earlier mass shootings included 49 killed and 53 injured at the Pulse Nightclub in Orlando, Fla., on June 12, 2016.

The poll found that a large majority of men (63 percent) believe that stricter laws on gun purchases won't reduce mass shootings. But women are almost evenly divided, with 49 percent saying stricter controls wouldn't reduce them, while 47 percent say they would.

The poll, conducted by Selzer and Co. of Des Moines, questioned 802 Iowa adults Dec. 3-6 and has a margin of error of plus or minus 3.5 percentage points.

Views split sharply along party lines. Seventy-nine percent of Republicans say more gun control won't reduce mass shootings, as do 59 percent of independents. Most Democrats stake out the opposite view: 65 percent believe it would help.

Fifty-two percent of seniors age 65 and over believe more gun control would help, but 43 percent do not. It's the only age group where a majority believe more controls would help.

Respondent Dallas Pawletzki, 19, of Arcadia, a political independent who does plumbing work, does not believe more gun control would reduce mass shootings. Tightening up the availability of firearms would simply create more black market sales of guns, he said.

"It will be technically harder to get guns. But it will still happen. And when you ban guns, people will even want them even more," said Pawletzki, who said he has family members who own guns.

Respondent Jackie Anderson, 70, of Fort Dodge, who has eight grandchildren and six great-grandchildren, favors more restrictions on gun purchases. She said she doesn't understand why people need military-style rifles with large magazines that enable rapid fire, and she fears a return to a Wild West environment for guns.

"I don't think we need those," said Anderson, who retired after 30 years with Sears, Roebuck and Co. and is a political independent. "I am not against guns for hunting or even safety. But I don't think we need those (military-style) rifles. That is what I get upset about."

Sweeping changes in Iowa's gun laws were approved by the Republican-led Iowa Legislature during its 2017 session. The legislation included so-called stand-your-ground provisions, which specifies that a person who is not engaged in illegal activity has no duty to retreat from any place where the person is lawfully present before using force as specified under Iowa law. The legislation also says a person may be wrong in the estimation of the danger or the force necessary to repel the danger as long as there is a reasonable basis for the belief of the person and the person acts reasonably in response to that belief.

In addition, the legislation allows people with permits to carry weapons to possess concealed handguns in the Iowa Capitol. The law also allows children to possess a pistol or revolver while under direct supervision of a parent or guardian who is at least 21 years old. Some other provisions ensure permit-holder confidentiality, add penalties for illegal sales and legalize short-barreled rifles and shotguns.

(Editor's note: This story was updated on Jan. 10, 2018 to clarify changes in Iowa's stand-your-ground law.)

About the poll

The Iowa Poll, conducted December 3-6 for The Des Moines Register and Mediacom by Selzer & Co. of Des Moines, is based on telephone interviews with 802 Iowans ages 18 or older. Interviewers with Quantel Research contacted households with randomly selected landline and cell phone numbers supplied by Survey Sampling International. Interviews were administered in English. Responses were adjusted by age and sex to reflect the general population based on recent census data.

Questions based on the sample of 802 Iowa adults have a maximum margin of error of plus or minus 3.5 percentage points. This means that if this survey were repeated using the same questions and the same methodology, 19 times out of 20, the findings would not vary from the true population value by more than plus or minus 3.5 percentage points. Results based on smaller samples of respondents — such as by gender or age — have a larger margin of error.

Republishing the copyright Iowa Poll without credit to The Des Moines Register and Mediacom is prohibited.