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CA Poll positive for Davis gun control
Josey1
Member Posts: 9,598 ✭✭
Poll on issues positive for Davis
Support for abortion and gun control
John Wildermuth, Chronicle Political Writer Wednesday, May 8, 2002
chart attached
By solid margins, California voters support abortion rights and gun control, which is good news for Gov. Gray Davis and a potential problem for his Republican opponent, businessman Bill Simon.
The new Field Poll also shows that voters aren't eager to change their views on those potentially divisive issues.
"We've been measuring some of this data for nearly 50 years, and in the past 10 to 15 years there hasn't been much change on social issues," said Mark DiCamillo, director of the poll. "Californians have staked out a position and are holding it."
The poll shows 72 percent of voters surveyed back the death penalty, for example, while 71 percent supported capital punishment in 1977.
On abortion, 63 percent of those surveyed would allow abortion on demand in the first trimester of a pregnancy, down only slightly from 66 percent in 1989.
The largest chunk of voters, 41 percent, don't want to see any changes in abortion laws, compared with 27 percent who want to make abortions easier to obtain and 23 percent who want tougher rules.
But while Simon and Davis back capital punishment, they have different views on abortion and gun control. Davis is pro-choice on abortion and has signed some tough gun control bills during his years in office. Simon is opposed to abortion and against any new restraints on firearms.
But four in 10 of those identified as Simon voters support a legal right to abortion in the first trimester, the poll shows. Double the percentage of Davis voters -- 82 percent -- back that abortion right.
Sixty percent of the undecided voters agree that a woman has a right to a first-trimester abortion. Simon's backers, overall, oppose first-trimester abortion by 46 percent to 41 percent.
Davis, who has the backing of abortion-rights groups, goes farther on the issue than most California voters. While the governor opposes laws that would require teenagers under 18 to get the consent of a parent or guardian before obtaining an abortion, 62 percent of those surveyed favor parental consent laws.
Californians are divided almost equally on whether tougher gun laws are effective in reducing violent crime. But by 55 percent to 39 percent, they believe putting more controls on gun ownership is more important than protecting the rights of Americans to own guns.
Simon "believes we have enough (gun) laws on the books and wants to concentrate on enforcing the ones we have," said Jeff Flint, a Simon campaign spokesman.
Among Davis' supporters, 73 percent favor gun control over gun ownership rights, while 60 percent of Simon's backers come out in favor of the gun owners.
But more important for the November election, 53 percent of the undecided voters lean toward Davis on the issue, while 38 percent take the more conservative position.
"Most opponents of gun control work their way back to the Constitution, where they say the right to bear arms is sacrosanct," DiCamillo said. "But the poll shows most Californians give a higher priority to the right to pass gun control laws."
A Field Poll last week showed Davis leading Simon, 43 percent to 29 percent,
with 28 percent undecided or backing a lesser-known candidate. The new poll suggests Simon is unlikely to make up that ground by dwelling on social issues,
DiCamillo said.
The poll is based on a statewide telephone survey of 705 registered voters taken April 19-25. The questions on abortion, gun control and capital punishment were asked to a random sample of 343 registered voters, with a margin of error of plus or minus 5.6 percentage points.
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/c/a/2002/05/08/MN156281.DTL
Edited by - Josey1 on 05/09/2002 08:43:55
Edited by - Josey1 on 05/09/2002 08:48:17
Comments
Quod principi placuit legis habet vigorem.Semper Fidelis
~Secret Select Society Of Suave Stylish Smoking Jackets~
Edited by - will270win on 05/09/2002 12:32:42
Lord Lowrider the LoquaciousMember:Secret Select Society of Suave Stylish Smoking Jackets She was only a fisherman's daughter,But when she saw my rod she reeled.
Of course the pollsters often do this on purpose to get a certain kind of result, but I have watched tapes of witness interviews using the same kinds of questions. Never ask a question in a way that volunteers an explanation or storyline, a theory or a motive or a reason for doing something, or that puts ANY idea in someone's head that they might not have thought of until you volunteered it. The safest thing to do is to keep questions as brief and unspecific as possible and keep them volunteering the details. Stick to "what happened?" and "what happened next?" as often as you possibly can.
Sorry to get so far off the subject there....
- Life NRA Member
If dishonorable men shoot unarmed men with army guns, the evil must be prevented by the penitentiary and not by general deprivation of constitutional privilege." - Arkansas Supreme Court, 1878
(For those of you who feel adroit....don't bother.)
I still think the gun manufacturers should boycott states like Kalifornia and Maryland. Don't even sell to Police Departments.
Obviously this'll never happen because of $$$$$, but I can dream.
Mudge the viscious
I can't come to work today. The voices said, STAY HOME AND CLEAN THE GUNS!
Edited by - mudge on 05/09/2002 15:55:13