Poll: Don't put guns in schools

While Senate Republicans in Lansing prepare another attempt to legalize concealed weapons in school buildings, a new poll shows that putting guns in schools is unpopular.

Voters remain divided over putting armed guards in schools but only 20 percent favor allowing teachers to have firearms in the classroom, according to the statewide survey released this morning by Lambert, Edwards & Associates and Denno Research. Just 3 percent want to let parents carry a gun in schools.

The Feb. 23-24 poll of 600 likely voters found that when respondents were asked who should be allowed to carry a gun in schools, 43 percent supported armed security guards and 34 percent said schools should remain gun-free zones.

“Similar to the national debate, this poll indicates that Michigan citizens are still sharply divided on guns in their schools,” said Jeff Lambert, LE&A president. “No group we tested polled over 50 percent, which tells us that the idea of putting guns in schools is certainly not a popular one. Certainly, the public’s desire to change Michigan’s gun laws as they relate to schools just isn’t that strong yet.”

Forty-two percent of respondents who identified themselves as Republicans favored allowing security guards to carry guns in schools, compared to 38 percent of self-identified Democrats. Forty-one percent of Democrats said no one should carry guns in schools, versus only 16 percent of Republicans, Lambert said. Thirty-five percent of females said no one should carry a gun in school while only 25 percent of males agreed.