A new opinion poll released today by Gun Control NZ shows that 70% of Kiwis support strengthening New Zealand’s existing gun laws.

“Given the very high level of popular support for stronger gun laws, we are very disappointed that the National Party have signaled their opposition to new gun laws. We are urging them to consider the views of ordinary New Zealanders and change their position,” says Gun Control NZ co-founder Nik Green.

“For decades, our gun laws have been held hostage by the gun lobby, who only represent a small minority of gun owners. Their opposition to sensible gun laws has compromised the peace, safety and security of ordinary New Zealanders. It’s time for all politicians to prioritise the future (and opinions) of ordinary people instead of the convenience of gun owners,” says Gun Control NZ co-founder Hera Cook.

“A similar number of people (71%) said they support the semi-automatic ban and the gun buyback programme. This level of support has declined only ten per cent since April, which is impressive and suggests that people’s strong emotions in the immediate aftermath of the Christchurch attacks reflect ongoing concern,” says Nik Green.

Only 20% were opposed to the semi-automatic ban and the gun buyback programme with 9% feeling unsure. Even fewer, only 16%, were opposed to strengthening New Zealand’s existing gun laws though more, 12%, were unsure.

There were some demographic differences in the level of support for stronger gun laws:
Cantabrians were more likely to support strengthening gun laws (81%). Urban residents (72%) were more likely to support strengthening gun laws than rural residents (60%). Three quarters of women support strengthening gun laws, ten percent more than men (76% vs 65%).

Q&A

How was the survey undertaken?
Survey questions were asked in the UMR Research nationwide omnibus survey. This is an online survey of a nationally representative sample of 1000 New Zealanders 18 years of age and over. Fieldwork for the latest online survey was conducted between 27th August to 3rd September 2019. The margin of error for a sample size of 1000 for a 50% figure at the 95% confidence level is ± 3.1%.

The survey results are available at https://www.guncontrol.nz/media/most-new-zealanders-back-stronger-gun-laws

ENDS

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