"Nearly one in four Americans say they have personally been threatened with a gun, including about one in 10 adults who report that someone had taken a shot at them, according to a new Washington Post-ABC News national survey."

"Nearly half of all Americans - 45 percent - said a firearm is kept in their home" (Richard Morin and Claudia Deane, The Washington Post, May 14, 2000).

"Khalid Pitts, director of state legislation for the Coalition to Stop Gun Violence, said he found the gun ownership number 'particularly disturbing' because he believes 'a surprising number' of those guns, including those in homes with children, are kept unlocked and loaded."

"'Given the number of times guns are used for suicides, or used against someone you know, having a firearm readily available is a problem,' Pitts said. 'They're too easily accessible.'"

"[Bill] Powers [director of public affairs for the NRA] said he was not surprised by another of the poll's findings: One in four people polled feel endangered by gun violence near home or on the job."

"'Consider the sensational, made-for-TV-drama way that the news media has covered some of the events over the last couple of years,' Powers said. 'Americans are getting around-the-clock, in-your-living-room sensationalized coverage. That sensationalism is certainly going to cause alarm.'"

"Powers said he could not verify the poll's finding about the number of Americans who said they had been threatened with a gun."

"'Without having time to look at the poll and see how the questions were asked, I would not be able to comment on that,' Powers said."

"To estimate experiences with guns and gun violence, The Post and ABC News asked a random sample of 1,068 adults 18 and older this month if, 'not counting military service,' they had ever personally 'been threatened with a gun or shot at.' Then respondents were asked whether they had been fired on or just threatened. Margin of sampling error for the overall results is plus or minus 3 percentage points."

"Nine percent of those interviewed reported that they had been shot at. The total includes everything from crime victims to those involved in hunting accidents. An additional 14 percent reported that someone had threatened them with a gun - but did not pull the trigger."

"The overall estimates are roughly consistent with the results of earlier surveys. In 1996, the General Social Survey, conducted annually by the Uni*e'rsity of Chicago's National Opinion Research Center, estimiated that 20 percent of all adults had been shot at or threatened with a gun. That survey did not specifically ask respondents whether they had been shot at."

"The Post-ABC survey found that men were more than twice as likely as women to say they have had a threatening encounter with guns. Blacks also were disproportionately more likely than whites to say they have been shot at or threatened with a gun."

"The poll found that people who had been shot at or threatened were, if anything, slightly less likely to favor stricter gun laws than those who haven't been exposed to gun violence."

"That's also what Tom Smith, director of the General Social Survey, found when he analyzed his survey data. But he cautions that 'part of this is simply gender. It's a combination of gender and [being a] gun owner. Gun owners and men [who are generally more pro-gun] are more likely to have these threatening experiences than women.'"

"Two in three poll respondents said gun laws should be strengthened."