Majority Of Hoosiers Worried About Shooting At Their Local Schools, Few Believe Arming Teachers Will Help

Last updated on Tuesday, November 13, 2018

(MUNCIE) - Hoosiers are worried about the possibility of a shooting happening at their local schools, but the proposed safety measures that get the most attention receive the least support, according to preliminary results of the Old National Bank/Ball State University 2018 Hoosier Survey.

In the telephone survey of 604 adult Hoosiers, when asked how worried they were about a school shooting, 20 percent of Hoosiers said they were "very worried" and another 36 percent said they were "somewhat worried" for a total of 56 percent.

"There have been a number of tragic incidents nationwide, including the one in Noblesville in May, so it's not surprising that people would be concerned," said Charles Taylor, managing director of the Bowen Center for Public Affairs at Ball State, which conducts the annual public opinion survey. "The level of concern was somewhat higher in urban areas, where 62 percent were 'very' or 'somewhat' worried, than in rural or suburban areas.

"We also asked the survey respondents their opinion about the likely effectiveness of a number of potential school safety measures. Preventing people with mental illness from purchasing guns was rated as 'very effective,' by 61 percent of Hoosiers. Improving mental health screening and treatment was second with 58 percent. Placing metal detectors was third with 47 percent."

Support for the two remaining measures was not as widespread. Only 36 percent of Hoosiers thought that banning assault-style weapons would be 'very effective;' only 30 percent rated arming teachers and school officials as 'very effective.'

"These two lowest rated measures were the subject of a great deal of partisan division," Taylor said. "Among Republicans, 46 percent thought arming teachers would be 'very effective,' compared to only 13 percent of Democrats. For the assault-style weapon ban, opinions were reversed, with 64 percent of Democrats giving the highest rating, compared to only 20 percent of Republicans."

Complete results of the Hoosier Survey will be released Nov. 13.

Survey Methodology

The Old National Bank / Ball State University 2018 Hoosier Survey obtained telephone interviews with a representative sample of 604 adults living in Indiana. Telephone interviews were conducted by landline (316) and cell phone (288, including 184 with adults with no landline phone). The survey was conducted by Issues & Answers Network, Inc. (I&A). Interviews were done in English from October 2-20, 2018. Statistical results are weighted to correct known demographic discrepancies. The margin of sampling error for the complete set of weighted data is plus or minus 5.1 percentage points.

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