There is no more gun-controlled state in the nation than California. Gun control is everywhere. While residents there can still, technically, purchase a firearm, their choices are heavily restricted and it’s a pain to buy anything. Of course, none of this stops criminals from getting guns, but they still have it and seem to be adding more all the time.

However, wouldn’t all that restriction lead many to demand less gun control?

Well, you’d think, but that doesn’t seem to be the case.

A newly released poll of California residents says 63% of the respondents believe laws covering the sale of guns should be stricter than they are now.

Sixteen percent said such laws should be less strict, and 19% said they should remain the same, according to the Public Policy Institute of California Statewide Survey.

Participants were also asked: “How concerned about the threat of a mass shooting?” The responses varied:

• Very concerned: 24%

 

• Somewhat concerned: 26%

 

• Not very concerned: 26%

 

• Not concerned at all: 22%

The poll was released after officials say an employee killed nine people Wednesday at a VTA railyard in San Jose and then killed himself as law enforcement rushed in.

Now, the poll was released following San Jose, but it was apparently conducted prior to it, so that may have temporarily changed the perception. I wouldn’t worry too much, though, because that tends to be temporary.

However, that’s still a lot of people wanting more gun control in a heavily gun-controlled state. So what gives?

Well, for one thing, you’re always going to have some people who want gun laws more strict so long as people can still buy a gun. You’re never going to placate these people with anything short of what would effectively be a gun ban. California probably has a higher percentage than normal of these kinds of people, too.

Yet another thing is that a lot of people really don’t know what the gun laws actually are.

Let’s remember a little over a year ago when people were swarming into gun stores in the early days of the pandemic, desperate for a firearm, only to find out there was a waiting period. They tried to purchase from internet vendors only to find out that a gun couldn’t be shipped directly to them. Despite these being long-established laws, they were ignorant of them.

How, then, can these people’s opinions of gun laws actually be valid?

Yet, the majority of Californians remain ignorant of what their state’s gun laws actually are. Sure, many of us know Californians who own guns and are familiar with those laws, but they’re a distinct minority. Most simply think it’s too easy to buy a gun because, well, the media told them it was.

Then pollsters call them up and ask if the gun laws need to be more strict. Well, what do you think they’re going to say?

So yeah, a lot of Californians think there need to be more gun laws. The trick is to educate these people on just how tough it is to buy a gun in the state and see if they feel the same way.