WEAPONS OF CHOICE
? affirm individuals’
right to guns
Poll finds agreement with Justice Department on 2nd Amendment

Posted: June 7, 2002
1:00 a.m. Eastern

Three-quarters of Americans agree with the Justice Department’s position that the Second Amendment guarantees the right of individuals to keep and bear arms, according to a recent poll by Zogby International.

Of those polled, 22 percent disagreed with the Justice Department, while 4 percent were unsure.

Last month, the department filed a brief with the Supreme Court stating that the Second Amendment guarantees the rights of individuals. Since the ’70s, the agency had maintained that the right only applies to state militias, not individuals.

The poll, conducted on behalf of the Second Amendment Foundation, included 1,015 likely voters and had a margin of error of +/- 3.2 percentage points.

Republicans were most likely to agree with the Justice Department’s position. Eighty-four percent of GOP members concurred. This compares to 65 percent of Democrats who agree with the position.

Seventy-nine percent of residents of the South, the Midwest and West believed the Second Amendment applies to individuals, while just 60 percent of Easterners did.

Of those polled in the 18-24 age range, 82 percent agreed with the Justice Department.

“Even among Democrats, senior citizens and the middle class, large majorities do not accept the so-called ‘collective right’ theory promoted by the most ardent gun-grabbers,” said Alan Gottlieb, founder of the Second Amendment Foundation, in a statement. “This poll indicates that anti-gunners are not even in-step with their traditional core groups.”