Guns and Youth - Pre- And Post-littleton Attitudes

The nation was appalled and fascinated by the Columbine High School shootings in Littleton, Colorado. For a time the shootings were the most popular essay topic among college applicants, according to the Denver Post (November 5, 2000). The college deans surveyed reported that before Littleton, most students wrote about such topics as favorite teachers, influential relatives, or sports achievements. College-bound students were concerned about school safety, gun control, and fear and vulnerability, according to the report, and often specifically mentioned Littleton in relation to these concerns.

Polls show that the Littleton shootings caused a shift in the public's attitudes about gun control, but not in the direction that one might expect. The 1999 National Gun Policy Survey of the National Opinion Research Center: Research Findings (Chicago: National Opinion Research Center [NORC], University of Chicago) measured preand post-Littleton attitudes.

The information was collected from polls taken by organizations including the Harris Poll, Associated Press, CBS/Gallup Poll, and ABC. Generally, fewer respondents were in favor of stricter gun control after Littleton than were before. For example, results from a Harris poll showed that 69% of respondents favored stricter gun control prior to Littleton compared with 63% post-Littleton. In an AP poll, when the question was asked one week prior to Littleton and again approximately four months after Littleton, results remained stable, with 56% pre-Littleton in favor of stricter gun control laws and 56% post-Littleton feeling the same way. The same AP poll showed a slight rise in those who felt better enforcement of existing gun laws would decrease gun violence, from 39% prior to Littleton to 49% after Littleton.

NORC researchers found the decline in support post-Littleton to be "surprising." However, while Littleton did not increase support for gun control, it did lead more Americans to rank guns/gun control and violence on their list of concerns. In the Harris poll, the percentage of people who ranked guns and gun control as important problems jumped from 1% pre-Littleton to 10% post-Littleton. Crime and violence went from 7% to 19% after the Littleton shootings. A Gallup poll showed a similar rise in the crime/violence category, as did the CBS poll.

In a survey from December 1999, eight months after Littleton, Public Agenda pollsters found the public divided over who was to blame for the massacre. Teens were more likely to blame the teens involved. Adults blamed guns and the influence of the media.