Survey: Less than a THIRD of college students believe right to bear arms is 'essential'

A June survey shows just how much less college students value the Second Amendment than other constitutional liberties.

Conducted by College Pulse, the survey of 2,301 students found that out of American rights like free speech, the right to privacy, etc., the Second Amendment is the least popular. Forty-one percent of students indicated that the right to own guns is “important but not essential,” with 28 percent suggesting that it is “not important.” Whereas nearly half of Americans indicated to Pew that the right was essential, only 30 percent of college students suggested the same to College Pulse.

"I worry we focus on trying to solve problems that only account for a small portion of violence, and are ignoring the mental health problems in our society"

Conversely, 91 percent of survey respondents said that the right to vote is “essential,” 81 percent of students suggested that the right to privacy is “essential,” 83 percent said that freedom of religion is “essential,” and 94 percent agree that freedom of speech is “essential.”

Almost half of the male students indicated that they view the right to own a gun as “essential to their freedom,” while just 18 percent of females suggested the same. Forty-six, 34, 23, 21, and 20 percent of American Indian, white, Hispanic, black, and Asian students said that owning a gun is “essential to their freedom,” respectively.

[RELATED: EXCLUSIVE: UC-Berkeley gun violence panelist has ‘no background’ on topic, instead will focus on ‘activism’]

College Pulse also polled students’ attitudes to more specific dimensions of gun rights.

Most students said that if their institution be, they would not transfer schools, with 36 percent of students indicating that they would be "very likely" or "somewhat likely" to transfer, and 62 percent suggesting that they would be "not too likely" or "not at all likely" to transfer.

When asked if college professors and administrators should be allowed to carry guns on campus, 36 percent of students said they "favor" or "strongly favor" the idea, while 63 percent said they "oppose" or "strongly oppose."

The opposition grew when asked if K-12 school officials and teachers should be allowed to carry guns on campus, which 67 percent of students said they "oppose" or "strongly oppose."

When it comes to more people in a community carrying guns, just 32 percent of students said this made people in the area safer, while 41 percent stipulated it made them less safe.

[RELATED: Instructor tries to quarantine gun owners in back of class]

University of Southern California student Corbin Fischer told Campus Reform that the survey results “aren’t necessarily bad,” but had some hesitations.

“College students are most likely heading towards being more restrictive on guns, as they believe it will help prevent some of these tragedies,” Fischer said. “At the same time, I worry we focus on trying to solve problems that only account for a small portion of violence, and are ignoring the mental health problems in our society.”

Fischer said that many students feel that limiting access to guns is the “easiest and simplest way” to prevent mass shootings.

“I also think that as more people enter urban environments, guns are used for violence more than they are for recreation or hunting, so they are perceived as weapons of murder,” he told Campus Reform.

Follow the author of this article on Twitter: @asabes10