Almost half of the students surveyed said it would be easy for a teenager to obtain a handgun in their neighborhood, and one-third reported that they know someone at their school who has been threatened with a gun.
These were just a few of the results of the Hamilton College Youth and Guns Poll — the first national survey to focus on high school students’ attitudes toward gun issues.
The survey of more than 1,000 randomly selected students was created by Sociology Professor Dennis Gilbert’s “Using Survey Research Seminar.” Two Hamilton students, Scott Taylor and Luciana Maxim, joined their professor to present the findings at the National Press Club in Washington, DC.
“Before the survey, I didn’t have any strong opinions about gun control,” Scott told members of the media. “Then I spoke with a girl in the Midwest whose boyfriend had been shot and killed while playing basketball at a local playground. Someone else in Michigan had seen guns on his way to school. We know that kids see guns and are afraid, but what can we do about it?”
A studio art/sociology double major, Scott is using his senior project to investigate why many gun owners strongly oppose gun control measures, even though the poll indicated that nine out of 10 high school students support handgun control. His study will look at socially influenced aspects of gun use, such as violence on television and in video games, as well as differences in gun control opinions across the generations.
“Speaking with students challenged me to understand why gun violence happens,” Scott added. “If creating more laws isn't the answer, other solutions must be found that more people can agree on.”
