They had more in common than unleashing carnage — nearly every gunman in this monthlong series of mass killings was legally entitled to fire his weapons.

So what does that say about the state of gun control laws in this country? One thing appears certain: the regulations aren’t getting stricter. Many recent efforts to change weapons laws have been about easing them.

So begins an AP article by Deborah Hastings written in the aftermath of a seven shootings in the last month.  It seems very clear that the gun control movement is on the ropes, and public opinion bears that out.

In Gallup polling conducted prior to last week’s gun massacre at an immigrant center in Binghamton, N.Y., only 29% of Americans said the possession of handguns by private citizens should be banned in the United States. While similar to the 30% recorded in 2007, the latest reading is the smallest percentage favoring a handgun ban since Gallup first polled on this nearly 50 years ago.

In Texas, students may be able to carry guns to class if legislators pass proposed bills to allow licensed concealed weapons on college campuses.

In Tennessee,  the House passed a bill allowing handgun carry permit owners to bring their weapons into restaurants that serve alcohol.

Has the NRA won the battle over gun control?  Will these recent shootings make people look again at more stringent laws on gun ownership?

Paul crime, death, politics crime, guns, media, politics

A recent article in the New York Times reported on the results of a study looking at end-of-life care and treatment for cancer patients. The study , which used a questionnaire and interviews to divide the patients by levels of religious observance and faith, tracked which types of patients preferred aggressive  and “life-prolonging” medical care  during the last week of their lives.  The study found that during the last week of their life,  the most religious patients were three times as likely as less religious patients to be put on a mechanical ventilator . In addition, less religious patients were more likely to do advance care planning such as preparing a living will or having a health care proxy. Senior author of the study, Holly G. Prigerson, notes in the article that ” people think that spiritual patients are more likely to say their lives are in God’s hands – ‘Let what happens happen’ – but in fact we know they want more aggressive care.”

Compare this with the results of a recent Zogby Interactive survey on death attitudes taken in November 2008.   We asked respondents whether they strongly agreed, somewhat agreed, somewhat disagreed or strongly disagreed with the statement “the prospect of my own death arouses anxiety in me”. We also asked how often the respondent attends religious services – more than weekly, weekly, 1-2 times a month, on holidays, rarely, or never.   In our case, the respondents who attend services more often are not more anxious about death than those who are less observant. In fact, our results show the opposite pattern. 32.3% of those who attend services weekly or more than weekly strongly or somewhat agree that the prospect of their own death arouses anxiety, while 30.7% of those who attend services 1-2 times a month, 41.0% of those who attend services on holidays, and 41.5% of those who attend services rarely or never feel the same way.

Why would more religiously observant people claim to be less anxious about their own death but be more likely to seek aggressive care or not plan for the end of their life?  Do you see this as a contradiction, or are these surveys addressing two separate issues?

Katy death, future death, faith, health, holidays, religion, zogby

Why do people get sick? It appears that many people think it is because they brought it upon themselves. At least that is what we found when we asked our respondents to indicate whether they agree or disagree with the view that “most diseases can be avoided by choosing a healthy life-style” – 63% agreed.

This view is especially pronounced among youngest Americans. Thus, our our surveys found that seventy-two percent of First Globals agree that “most diseases can be avoided by choosing a healthy lifestyle.” Among those age 30-49, 63% agreed, and among those 50-64, 58% agreed. However, majority of all age-groups shares this view.

Some say that this view blames the victim, because it implies that people are to blame for their own diseases. Other say that this view helps people understand the consequences of their life choices. Do you believe that most diseases can, in fact, be avoided by living a healthy life? Which ones, if any, do you think can not be avoided?

Zeljka death, health, lifestyles first globals, health, lifestyle