Poll: Americans Favor More Police Over a Gun Ban

[Frodo]

Poll: More police over gun ban

By KEVIN CIRILLI | 12/19/12 5:31 PM EST

Most Americans think banning assault and semi-automatic guns wouldn’t be as effective at preventing school shootings than increasing government spending on mental health and bolstering police presence at schools, according to a post-Newtown, Conn., tragedy poll.

Gallup polled on how people view the effectiveness of six different responses to the Dec. 14 incident at Sandy Hook Elementary School in which authorities say Adam Lanza killed 20 students and six other school officials.

The ranking out Wednesday: increasing police presence at schools had 53 percent of those polled saying it would be very effective; increasing government spending on mental health screening and treatment would be very effective (50 percent); decreasing the depiction of gun violence on in on TV, movies and video games (47 percent).

Coming in fourth was banning the sale of semi-automatic guns and assault weapons (42 percent); followed by having at least one school official at every school carry a gun for the school’s protection (34 percent); and the news media refusing to print or read the names of the person responsible for the shooting (27 percent).
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Read more: http://www.politico.com/story/2012/12/poll-more-police-over-gun-ban-85330.html#ixzz2FZJ8cSQq

[J. J.]

They ought to favor changes in mental health policies. 

[Okay, maybe Mike Johnson is a competent parliamentarian.]

They ought to favor changes in mental health policies. 

The idea that this is some sort of panacea or ought in this instance to be pursued in absence of other policy changes strikes me as chimerical.

[Paul Kemp]

Why does it have to be one or the other?

[Person Man]

They ought to favor changes in mental health policies. 

The idea that this is some sort of panacea or ought in this instance to be pursued in absence of other policy changes strikes me as chimerical.

Regardless of what else we do, mental health, especially cancelling some of the long term programs we may have been canceling since the 70s or 80s, should be the #1 priority.

Perhaps secondary should be to make sure that we can enforce current laws and reinstate some laws that have expired or been repealed.
Censorship and taking people's guns away seem to be a step too far and will only cause resentment.

[Link]

They ought to favor changes in mental health policies. 

Yeah like banning assault style weapons.

[Simfan34]

Why does it have to be one or the other?

Agreed. Let's have both.

[Link]

The ranking out Wednesday: increasing police presence at schools had 53 percent of those polled saying it would be very effective...

Who is going to pay for those police?  Banning assault style guns is free.

[Frodo]

Also, just to keep perspective, nearly half of all Americans (that's over 150 million, at least) are gun-owners, from the last time Gallup asked that question, which was last year:

[AkSaber]

How could we afford more police though?

Legalization of marijuana maybe?

[Franzl]

Also, just to keep perspective, nearly half of all Americans (that's over 150 million, at least) are gun-owners, from the last time Gallup asked that question, which was last year:

Crazy

[Link]

Also, just to keep perspective, nearly half of all Americans (that's over 150 million, at least) are gun-owners, from the last time Gallup asked that question, which was last year:

No.  That graph is for households.  A household can have 4, 5, 6, 8 people in it.  Just because one person is a gun nut doesn't mean everyone else in the house is.  Everyone is in danger but not necessarily everyone is on board with the gun hoarding.

[○∙◄☻¥tπ[╪AV┼cVê└]

Gee, what a choice. In other news, Americans Favor their own personal weight loss guru over banning trans fats. They favor a teleportation device over raising gas taxes. The list goes on.

[Sbane]

This is the heart of the problem right here. And you don't solve this with a gun ban. The gun culture itself needs to be destroyed.

[Associate Justice PiT]

     Seems surprisingly realistic for the American public. The AWB does nothing and is a complete waste of time. Granted more police is still a rather bad suggestion.

[AkSaber]

     Seems surprisingly realistic for the American public. The AWB does nothing and is a complete waste of time. Granted more police is still a rather bad suggestion.

Thank you PiT. That is the smartest comment made about this ordeal.

And I still wanna be a cop...

[Sbane]

     Seems surprisingly realistic for the American public. The AWB does nothing and is a complete waste of time. Granted more police is still a rather bad suggestion.

Thank you PiT. That is the smartest comment made about this ordeal.

And I still wanna be a cop...

Bu adding more cops doesn't solve the underlying problem does it? Or should we consider mental cases running around with guns to be "normal"?

[AkSaber]

Bu adding more cops doesn't solve the underlying problem does it? Or should we consider mental cases running around with guns to be "normal"?

Our society has an obsession with violence. That's our problem. More policemen, and unconstitutional feelgood legislation won't take that away. Say banning guns doesn't work, what then? Do we have a war on mental cases?

We are a violent country (the Arab could tell us that). Sadly I think it's here to stay.

[© tweed]

I'd be down for less cops and more shrinks (and a government-sponsored cop-to-shrink transition program, so the cops who get laid off can take to the psychoanalytic business)