Almost all Russians know about the tragedy that occurred at the Kazan school on May 11. Half (53%) of respondents closely followed the events, 44% at least heard something about it.
The respondents were asked an open question about the reasons for the incident. The received answers were encoded and given in % of the number of respondents. The main reasons for the tragedy are the mental illness of the shooter (21%), inattention and negligence of school employees, police, law enforcement agencies who did not track the danger in time (19%), as well as problems in the attacker’s family (inattention of parents, insufficient upbringing, loneliness) (16%).
Other versions included the free circulation of weapons (9%), the influence of computer games and the Internet (9%), the general immorality of young people (9%), problems of relationships at school: quarrels, bullying, etc. (8%), problems with school security (7%). According to 2% of respondents, the reasons for what happened were drug addiction, the dissemination of information about such cases in the West, and even direct foreign sabotage.
At the same time, 43% of Russians are ready to support proposals for a complete ban on private arms trafficking (with the exception of certain specialized groups, such as hunters or PSC employees). 45% believe that it is possible to limit ourselves to a significant tightening of the rules for obtaining permits for weapons. About 10% believe that there is no need to tighten the existing rules.
The wording of the questions was compiled jointly with the Open Media publication
This survey was conducted May 20 – 26 2021, among a representative sample of all Russian urban and rural residents. The sample was comprised of 1620 people aged 18 or older in 137 municipalities of 50 regions of the Russian Federation. The survey was conducted as a personal interview in respondents’ homes. The answer distribution is presented as percentages of the total number of participants along with data from previous surveys.
The statistical error of these studies for a sample of 1600 people (with a probability of 0.95) does not exceed:
3.4% for indicators around 50%
2.9% for indicators around 25%/75%
2.0% for indicators around 10%/90%
1.5% for indicators around 5%/95%
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