A report published a day before the much-hyped “March For Our Lives” gun control rally on Saturday highlights what USA Today suggests is a rather unexpected development: “Even after Parkland,” a lot of high schoolers do not support the kinds of gun control measures being promoted by the student activists that have gotten so much airtime over the last month.
“They’re young, fierce and — at least for the moment — the most prominent voices in America’s debate over guns,” writes USA Today’s Sean Rossman. “But not all members of ‘Generation Columbine’ cling to the rhetoric making household names out of some of their peers, those students calling for tighter gun control after the deadly Feb. 14 shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Fla.”
As evidence, Rossman points to the finding of a recent USA Today/Ipsos poll of young people (13-24), which found that less than half of the hundreds of middle and high school-age kids polled believe tighter gun control will actually result in safer schools, while a vast majority supported beefing up school security.
Of the over 600 middle and high school students surveyed last week, 47% said they believe tightening gun laws and background checks would prevent more mass shootings, while 37% disagreed. Of the over 500 18-24 year olds surveyed, 54% were confident that tightened gun control measures would prevent shootings; 33% disagreed.
Meanwhile, support for heightened security at schools similar to the policies enacted by Republican-led houses in Florida and supported by the Trump administration had much stronger support among young people. “Seven in 10 say schools should be required to have an armed police officer on site. Six in 10 say schools should be required to have metal detectors at the door; more than two-thirds of those under 18 felt that way,” USA Today reports.
One administration-backed idea that was not popular, however, is the idea of arming some teachers: 47% opposed the idea; 29% approved.
Around 4 in 10 students surveyed said they did not feel confident that school officials would keep them safe nor did they feel safe at their schools.
In his report Friday, Rossman spoke with a few students who were willing to publicly push back against the gun control movement. “There’s many things that go into a solution for this, and it’s not guns,” said an 18-year-old girl who attended a rally in Tallahassee. “We’re definitely in the minority for believing that it’s not guns.”
“The whole situation is horrible, and I think that something should be done, but I don’t think that what the majority is saying is what needs to be done,” said her 17-year-old boyfriend. “I think there are other actions that need to be taken before anything happens with guns.”
“There’s no real way to avoid having a school shooting,” said another female student, 15. “People are going to find some type of way to do what they want, whether it’s with guns or without them. … It’s not the gun’s fault. The gun’s not going to go off without someone’s finger on the trigger.”
Related: Parkland Student Rebukes Activists For Using His Sister To Promote Gun Control