As I mentioned last time, the Number One inference I drew from the responses was the personal positive attitude of gun owners who answered that they knew CPR [78%] and who also said why. If there is one thing to glean from this combined response, it is that these gun owners believe that their training in CPR is just as important as their training in how to handle a gun in armed self-defense. Without pulling too much out of this, it is clear from remarks that they see both as useful to the community and have self-expectations of duty in the absence of first responders. That 78% of the gun owners know CPR is a wonderful finding.

Today’s report addresses the findings which followed. The survey then asked: Are you a member of an organized preparedness group? 88.3% answered that they are not and 11.7% said that they are. What does this mean? It means that a hefty majority of individual gun owners in the survey undertook CPR training independently. Coupled with our previous finding that only 9% are medical persons, this initiative is important in further demonstrating personal positive attitude of gun owners. That’s what I get out of it.

The survey then went on to ask about Guns on Campus. 94.6% answered that they support adult students’ being armed while attending college. 1.3% oppose adult students’ being armed while attending college. Question #8 asked the same question as it applied to adult parents as visitors to their child’s school. 95.2% answered that they support parents’ being armed while visiting their child’s school and 1.6% oppose parents’ being armed while visiting their child’s school.

The survey asked about arming teachers. 76.4% approve arming teachers as a start in the right direction, and 11.1% oppose arming teachers because it may be viewed as further centralization.

On anti-violence programs, the findings are divided. The question was As a gun owner, what is your opinion of anti-violence programs which refuse to include concepts of being armed with lethal force? The choices were They must begin to allow gun owners to educate their students versus They are an anti-gun movement and will not allow armed self-defense expertise and comments. It shook out to be 51.7% to educate and 45.8% believing that anti-violence is anti-gun and will not allow gun owner expertise. Perhaps this will change.

The largest percentage of comments came in the invitation to address the non-gun owner public. It proved to be a very good idea to ask. We’ll look at those next time.

The next Gun Owner Survey is slated for May, and will concentrate on very serious issues on whether we will ever again see safer streets.

John Longenecker is author of Even Safer Streets 2011 – The Second Amendment as a Mainstream Value now at Amazon.