The political divide in America

Poll: 44% Republicans think armed revolution might be necessary

Digital Journal,

2 May, 2013

According to a poll by Dan Cassino and Krista Jenkins of Fairleigh Dickinson University's PublicMind released May 1, nearly half of Republicans (44%) believe an armed revolution might be necessary in the next few years to protect civil liberties.

The survey of voters conducted by telephone between April 22 and 28 involved a randomly selected sample of 863 registered voters nationwide. The survey (PDF) found that 29 percent of voters agreed with the statement:

"In the next few years, an armed revolution might be necessary in order to protect our liberties." This included 18 percent of Democrats, 27 percent of Independents and 44 percent of Republicans.

Five percent of the total number of respondents said they were not sure.

Analysts say the differences in views on the question of armed revolution reflects the partisan divide between Americans on the issue of gun control.

According to the poll, 50 percent of American voters agreed that gun control legislation is necessary to protect the public from gun violence, while 39 percent disagreed. .

The voters who agreed that gun legislation is necessary included 73 percent of Democrats and only 24 percent of Republicans. The voters who disagreed included 65 percent Republicans.

The poll also found that only 38 percent of American voters who believe armed revolution might be necessary also support new gun control legislation, compared to 62 percent of those who do not think an armed revolt might be necessary to settle political differences.

Poll results: Fairleigh Dickinson University

In a report entitled "Beliefs about Sandy Hook Cover up, coming revolution underlie divide on gun control," Dan Cassino, professor of political science at Fairleigh Dickinson, said: "The differences in views of gun legislation are really a function of differences in what people believe guns are for. If you truly believe an armed revolution is possible in the near future, you need weapons and you’re going to be wary about government efforts to take them away."

The poll results also reflect a connection between opposition to gun control and acceptance of conspiracy theories about Sandy Hook.

The poll found that nearly a third of Republicans (32 percent) said they agreed with the statement: "Some people are hiding the truth about the school shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary in order to advance a political agenda," compared with 20 percent of Democrats

Overall, 25 percent (a quarter) of American voters agreed with the statement while 11 percent were not sure

Poll results: Fairleigh Dickinson University

The poll also found that a third (31 percent) of voters with no more than a high school degree agreed with the statement, compared with 16 percent of college graduates.

The survey found that gun control opponents were more likely to agree with the Sandy Hook conspiracy theory.

Only 37 percent of Americans who agreed with the Sandy Hook conspiracy statement supported new gun control measures, compared with 59 percent of Americans who don't believe there is a Sandy Hook conspiracy.

Dan Casino said: "If there was a bipartisan moment after Sandy Hook to pass gun control legislation, it’s past. Partisan views have strongly re-asserted themselves, and there’s no sign that they’ll get any weaker."

The poll margin of error was 3.4 percent.