Civitas Poll: NC Voters Tell Washington: Hands off our Guns | Eastern North Carolina Now

    Publisher's note: This post, by Francis De Luca, was originally published in the Press Releases section(s) of Civitas's online edition.

    RALEIGH     The latest Civitas Institute Poll shows North Carolina voters oppose having Washington set gun control policies. Also, a majority favors the state's blocking gun control laws it finds unconstitutional - or other laws it legally disagrees with.

    Only 28 percent of registered voters thought the federal government was best-suited for setting gun policies; 38 percent preferred state government control, with 21 favoring local control.

    In a 52-39 percent split, voters favored North Carolina blocking federal gun control laws it considers unconstitutional. By 51-to-41, they said the state should block federal laws it disagrees with legally.

    The poll of 600 registered North Carolina voters had a margin of error of plus-minus 4 percent.

    Actual text of questions from the Civitas Poll*:

    Who in your opinion is best suited for setting policies about gun ownership...

    28% Federal government

    38% State governments

    21% Local governments

    12% Don't Know/ None/ Other

    Some states have passed or are considering laws to block federal gun regulations they consider unconstitutional. Do you favor or oppose your state blocking federal gun control laws it considers unconstitutional?

    52% Total Favor

    39% Total Oppose

    40% Strongly Favor

    12% Somewhat Favor

    10% Somewhat Oppose

    28% Strongly Oppose

    9% Undecided/Don't Know

    Should states have the right to block any federal laws they disagree with on legal grounds?

    51% Yes

    41% No

    7% Don't Know

    In your opinion, do you feel the federal government currently operate within the limits established by the Constitution of the United States?

    44% Yes

    51% No

    4% Don't Know

    1% Refused

    *Because of rounding, subtotals may not equal 100 percent.

    For crosstabs from these questions, click here.

    About the Poll:

    This poll of 600 registered voters in North Carolina was conducted May 21-22, 2013 by National Research, Inc. of Holmdel, NJ. All respondents were part of a fully representative sample of registered general election voters in North Carolina. Twenty-five percent of the respondents were cell phone-only users. For purposes of this study, voters interviewed had to have voted in at least one of the past two general elections (2010, 2012) or be newly registered to vote since November 7, 2012.

    The confidence interval associated with a sample of this size is such that: 95 percent of the time, results from 600 interviews (registered voters) will be within +-4% of the "True Values."

    Civitas conducts the only regular live-caller polling of North Carolina voters. For more information on Civitas polling, see http://www.nccivitas.org/category/poll/.

    The Civitas Institute is a think tank based in Raleigh, NC. More information on the Civitas Institute is available at www.nccivitas.org, or contact Jim Tynen at james.tynen@nccivitas.org or (919) 834-2099.

    CONTACT: Francis De Luca (919) 834-2099   •   Francis.DeLuca@NCCivitas.org