MOMS TAKE AIM AT GUNS; MOST WOMEN WANT MORE REGULATIONS.

Byline: Will Lester Associated Press 

The fight over gun control reflects a battle of the sexes. American women say stricter weapon laws would curb violence while men want better enforcement of laws already adopted, an Associated Press poll found.

The poll recorded less overall support for tougher gun laws than in the days immediately after the deadly school shootings last April in Colorado, but still offers plenty of ammunition to both sides of the debate in a divided Congress.

In a telephone survey, representatives of ICR of Media, Pa., found 56 percent of American adults favored stricter gun laws and 39 percent opposed them. Sixty-six percent of women favored tougher laws, compared with 45 percent of men. Thirty percent of women and 49 percent of men were opposed.

``Women have the mother instinct and don't want guns around,'' said James Rowe, a 73-year-old gun enthusiast and partially retired contractor in San Diego.

In mid-April, just before the Colorado shootings, 55 percent of adults favored tougher gun laws. When the question was repeated in an AP poll a week after the shootings, the proportion jumped to 63 percent.

But while most favor stricter gun laws, only 43 percent in the latest poll said new laws would be more effective in reducing gun violence than better enforcement of laws already on the books. Those numbers are statistically unchanged from the poll taken before the Colorado massacre, but sharp different from opinions soon after those shootings, when 51 percent wanted tougher gun laws while 39 percent thought better enforcement would be enough.

Public opinion on this question is fluid, evidenced by the shifts in the AP polls.

Republicans have found divisions in their own ranks. The Senate, with the help of some Republicans, agreed to legislation that requires background checks at all gun shows, outlaws importation of large-capacity ammunition clips and requires the sale of safety locks with handguns. House Republicans initially stripped out that language, but later asked for a compromise version that would require background checks for firearms sales at gun shows.

Theresa Flippin, a 24-year-old factory worker from Yellville, Ark., believes people should be able to own guns and use them for hunting, but she wants tougher gun restrictions on people who have criminal records.

``In the last five years, it's really gotten out of control - the school shootings, the drive-by shootings, the road-rage shootings,'' she said.

More than half of Americans say recent shootings in the news have made them worry more about their own safety. Almost two-thirds of women said they were likely to feel that way.

``I worry about my daughter when she goes to school,'' said 47-year-old Karen Cloud, a nurse from Lexington, Ky. Several women in the poll, when asked in interviews later how recent violence affects them, mentioned school shootings first.

Cloud said she wasn't surprised there is a gender gap on the gun control issue.

``I think a lot of men are just fascinated with guns and want to have them,'' she said. ``I dated a guy who insisted that I learn how to shoot this rifle. It was so heavy, I couldn't even hold it. I went out and shot cans with it, but there was no point.''

The poll of 1,026 people taken Aug. 27-31 indicated that African-Americans were far more likely than whites to support tougher gun controls, by 83 percent to 52 percent. The poll had an error margin of plus or minus 3 percentage points overall, with a larger margin for subgroups such as men and women. Democrats were far more likely than Republicans to support more restrictions, by 71 percent to 43 percent.

Both Democratic candidates for president, Vice President Al Gore and former New Jersey Sen. Bill Bradley, have suggested stringent steps to control access to guns. GOP front-runner George W. Bush, the governor of Texas, said recently that he agrees with some gun-control steps, such as raising the age of gun ownership to 21 and banning large ammunition clips.

More than half the men interviewed in the poll, 54 percent, said they felt recent shootings reported in the news were random acts of violence that don't affect them personally, while 41 percent said they felt threatened. Some of that could be attributed to the difference in how men and women view guns.

``I hate to see all the shootings,'' said Rowe, the San Diego contractor and World War II veteran. ``I have guns of my own, about 18 guns - rifles, pistols. . . . I just like to look at them.

``I buy them just like a woman would buy a diamond,'' he said.