Professor of Sociology Dennis Gilbert was interviewed for a Christian Science Monitor article (4/20/07) about the Virginia Tech shootings and the increased call for gun control. Gilbert spoke about the Hamilton College Youth poll conducted in 2006, which found that 88 percent of high school students polled supported a five-day waiting period for a hand-gun purchase. "They've seen a lot of gun violence in ways that kind of frighten them," said Gilbert in the article. "Something like 35 percent of high school seniors in 2006 knew someone who'd been shot at or threatened with a gun. That's more than 1 in 3, and it was a national survey, not just of urban areas."
The Arthur Levitt Public Affairs Center at Hamilton College has funded a series of polls on a range of timely topics. Students have a unique opportunity to receive training in polling and to conduct pilot surveys. The polls, developed and analyzed by Hamilton College students under the guidance of faculty members, are administered by the independent polling firm Zogby International.
