This AP article talks about how young Americans feel on new measures to curb gun violence.
CHICAGO
(AP) — LaShun Roy supports a ban on semi-automatic weapons and more
comprehensive background checks. But the 21-year-old gun owner from
rural Texas doesn't consider gun-control measures a top priority in this
year's elections.
For
Keionna Cottrell, a 24-year-old who lives on Chicago's South Side and
whose brother was shot and killed this year in another Illinois city,
few things are more important than limiting access to guns.
"So
many people are dying here because there is no control of the weapons
out on our streets," said Cottrell. "Young men ... have real military
guns and they're not scared to use them."
Although
their lives and experiences differ, the young women's shared support
for additional policies to curb gun violence reflect the feelings of
many Americans between the ages of 18 and 30, regardless of their
backgrounds, according to a new GenForward poll.
About
9 in 10 young adults say they support criminal background checks for
all gun sales, a level of support that remains consistent across racial
and ethnic groups. Stiffer penalties for violating existing gun laws are
supported by 9 in 10 young adults, including about 9 in 10 whites,
Asian-Americans and Latinos, as well as 8 in 10 African-Americans.
Fifty-seven
percent of young Americans support a ban on semi-automatic weapons,
with support especially high — 74 percent — among Asian-Americans.
GenForward
is a survey by the Black Youth Project at the University of Chicago
with the Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research. The
first-of-its-kind poll pays special attention to the voices of young
adults of color, highlighting how race and ethnicity shape the opinions
of a new generation.
Roy,
a full-time college student who learned to handle assault rifles while
serving in the National Guard, said it's possible to protect the rights
of gun owners and implement safeguards. That puts her among the 54
percent of young adults — including 61 percent of Asian-Americans, 57
percent of African-Americans and 52 percent of Latinos and whites — who
say laws limiting gun ownership do not infringe on the public's right to
bear arms.
"I
think it's important to make sure the government isn't going door to
door saying, 'Let me see your guns and ammo,'" said Roy, who is black.
"But I think it's really important to have background checks ... and
make sure a felon can't get a gun."
She also believes a new Texas law that permits open carry on college campuses is a bad idea.
"What
if someone's not doing well in class or a family member dies? What's to
stop them from pulling out a gun and shooting the teacher or people in
class?" she said. "You just have so many different emotions and types of
people you go to school with."
The
poll underscores the differences in young Americans' personal
experiences, which they say helped shape their attitudes toward guns.
