New Poll Shows Gun Violence in Schools is Among ‘Top 5’ Concerns for American Families

New York, NY — According to the newest University of Michigan C.S. Mott Children’s Hospital National Poll on Children’s Health, gun violence in schools and communities is – for the first time in the survey’s history – a top concern of American parents and families. Said one of the doctors leading the survey:  “We need to work hard together on these issues of greatest concern to the public, and take note of the particular national concern about school violence and gun-related injuries so we can address how to improve and safeguard our children’s health.”

Since the tragedy at Sandy Hook Elementary school, there have been 74 school shootings in America, according to a list compiled by Everytown for Gun Safety and Moms Demand Action for Gun Sense in America.

Statement from Shannon Watts, Founder of Moms Demand Action for Gun Sense in America:

“This poll confirms what we’ve been saying since moms across the country mobilized after the brutal attack in Newtown, Connecticut where twenty kids and six educators were killed in the sanctity of their elementary school:  Moms will no longer tolerate America’s culture of gun violence.  We demand to be safe in the places we go with our children – schools, restaurants, stores, parks and in our own homes.

“By opposing legislation to close the deadly loopholes in our background check system that allow minors and dangerous people like felons and domestic abusers easy access to guns, as well as reasonable limits on where, when and how loaded gun are carried and used in public, it’s crystal clear the gun lobby is out of touch with the concerns of American parents, including those who are gun owners.

“As we prepare to send our kids back to school, Moms across the country are harnessing our passion and organizing like never before to beat back the Washington gun lobby.  We are fighting on all fronts to make sure political leaders can no longer ignore the call of moms, dads, aunts and uncles to protect our kids. We should never have to worry that when we drop our kids off at school, we will have to pick them up at the hospital.”

BACKGROUND

While adults rank obesity as the top health concern for children this year in the annual survey, school safety (ranked #5 concern) and gun-related injuries (ranked #9) made their first-ever appearances on the survey this year.

Yesterday’s poll is only the latest showing the gun lobby’s positions are out of the mainstream:

• A July 2014 poll of women voters found almost all (93%) support background checks for all gun sales.  This includes Republican and independent women (89%).  And, by a 3-to-1 margin, women will reward—not punish—a candidate who support keeping guns out of the hands of domestic abusers and stalkers.
• Similarly, a 2012 poll of NRA members found that 74 percent of NRA members and 87 percent of non-NRA gun owners support requiring criminal background checks for anyone purchasing a gun.

Recently, nearly two hundred members of Moms Demand Action for Gun Sense in America, founded immediately after the tragedy in Newtown, convened for its first-ever national training of volunteers in states around the country who are mobilizing to bring 1 million people to the polls this November as part of the Gun Sense Voter campaign.