A majority of Louisianians surveyed recently are in favor of legal gambling on sports and recreational pot, researchers in the Public Policy Research Lab at LSU’s Manship School of Mass Communication report.
On the issue of guns, more than two-thirds support preventing people with mental illness from purchasing guns, while the majority opposing banning the sale of assault weapons and high capacity ammunition magazines, the researchers say.
These results come from the sixth of six reports from the 2019 Louisiana Survey, which spotlights how people in the Bayou State feel about popular social issues. To see the results for yourself, as well as other results from other related surveys, click here.
The Louisiana Survey, conducted by PPRL interviewers, polled 917 Louisianans age 18 or older across the state to find out how people from all areas of the state view Louisiana government and its policies. The survey was conducted from Feb. 15 to March 7, and the total sample has a margin of error +/- 4.6 percentage points.
Findings from the sixth of six reports show these key opinions on social issues:
- Fifty-nine percent of state residents support legalizing gambling on professional sporting events.
- Fifty-five percent of Louisiana residents support legalizing the possession of small amounts of marijuana for recreational use.
- Fifty-seven percent of Louisiana residents oppose banning the sale of assault weapons, and 61 percent oppose banning high capacity ammunition magazines.
- Of the three firearm restrictions included in the 2019 Louisiana Survey, preventing people with mental illness from purchasing guns is the only one to receive majority support (69 percent).
- In fact, a majority of residents support at least one form of expanding gun rights.
- Fifty-nine percent of Louisiana residents want the state to allow the carry of concealed guns in more places
According to the center: “The Louisiana Survey has been conducted annually for the last 18 years (and twice in 2006), establishing rich longitudinal measures of public opinion in Louisiana. The mission of the Louisiana Survey is to establish benchmarks as well as to capture change in residents’ assessments of state government services. The survey is further dedicated to tracking public opinion on the contemporary policy issues that face the state. Each iteration of the Louisiana Survey contains core items designed to serve as barometers of public sentiment, including assessments of whether the state is heading in the right direction or wrong direction, perceptions about the most important problems facing the state, as well as evaluations of public revenue sources and spending priorities.”
The survey is a project of the Reilly Center for Media & Public Affairs, an integral part of the Manship School of Mass Communication. The Reilly Center’s mission is to generate thoughtful programs, dialogue and research about mass communication and its many faceted relationships with social, economic and political issues.
