POLL: Americans Put More Faith In A ‘Good Guy With A Gun’ Thwarting A Mass Shooter Than The Police

More Americans think that an armed civilian would be their best protection in the case of a live shooting event than anything else, according to a recent Convention of States Action poll.

The poll found that 41.8% of respondents believe that an armed citizen would be their best protection if they were caught in a mass shooting event. Just 25.1% thought that the next most common response—local law enforcement—would be their best option.

There was a clear partisan divide in the poll, however. 70.4% of Republican respondents felt that an armed civilian would provide more reliable protection from a mass shooter than any other source, while just 16.3% of Democratic respondents reported the same.

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Nearly two-thirds of voters say they are not confident that their local law enforcement and government officials could stop a violent person before they started a mass shooting. Of all respondents, 35.3% said they were “not very confident,” while 26.9% said they were “not confident at all” in state and local law enforcement.

Convention of States Action President Mark Meckler seemed to imply that police failures in the recent shooting at Robb Elementary School in Uvalde, Texas, may have influenced respondents. 

“Americans watched in horror as an active shooter was permitted to rampage through a school while the police stood outside and did absolutely nothing. Over and over again, citizens are given the clear message that—when it comes to protecting loved ones—you’re on your own. At the same time, we’re told guns are the problem and we should give up our right to self-defense,” Meckler said in a press release.

The Convention of States Action poll was conducted in partnership with The Trafalgar Group. It surveyed 1,078 likely voters between July 7-10 and had a margin of error of 2.9%.