New Poll: 61 Percent of Wisconsin Residents Oppose Forcing College Campuses to Allow Concealed Handguns on Campus

MADISON, Wis. – Everytown for Gun Safety Action Fund and the Wisconsin chapter of Moms Demand Action for Gun Sense in America, part of Everytown, today released a new poll conducted by SurveyUSA finding that a clear majority of Wisconsinites oppose the idea of forcing college and university campuses to allow people to carry hidden, loaded handguns on their campuses.

The poll results (available here) follow comments from a state legislator who said in December that he planned to reintroduce legislation that would force Wisconsin colleges and universities to allow hidden, loaded handguns on their campuses.

The survey consisted of interviews of 1,050 Wisconsin adults. It found, among other results:

• 61 percent of respondents said they opposed forcing college campuses to allow concealed handguns on campus.
  
• 51 percent of respondents said they would be less likely to vote for a candidate who voted to force college campus to allow concealed handguns on campus – compared with just 15 percent who said they would be more likely to vote for such a candidate.
  
• 91 percent of respondents – including 86 percent of gun owners – said they support the current Wisconsin law that requires any state resident who wants to carry a hidden, loaded handgun to first obtain a permit.

STATEMENT FROM KELLY HERDA, A VOLUNTEER WITH THE WISCONSIN CHAPTER OF MOMS DEMAND ACTION FOR GUN SENSE IN AMERICA:

“Our gun laws on the books in Wisconsin are popular because they make sense. Wisconsinites know that guns shouldn’t be a part of college life. Changing our laws to force colleges to allow people to carry hidden, loaded handguns on campuses, or to let people carry concealed handguns without a permit or safety training would make all of us less safe.”