Liberals Think Gun Violence is a Big Problem, Conservatives Not So Much
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Overall, around half of all U.S. residents see gun violence as a huge issue in the country, according to a recent report from the Pew Research Center.
Attitudes about gun violence differ widely by race, ethnicity, political party and community type, according to Pew Research Center research. While 73% of Democrats see gun violence as a big problem, only 18% of Republicans see it as a problem. When broken down further, it was shown that Black Democrats are more likely than white, Hispanic Democrats to say gun violence is a big problem.
In total, around half of all Americans (48%) see gun violence as a problem in the country, according to Pew.
Personal protection tops the list of reasons why gun owners say they own a firearm. The Pew Research Center also found that four in 10 U.S. adults live in a household with a gun, including 30% who say they own one. Gun ownership is closely linked with views on gun policies, which is true even among gun owners and nongun owners within the same political party, according to one Pew survey.
Some 44% of Republicans and Republican-leaning independents say they own a gun, while only 20% of Democrats and Democratic-leaning persons say they own one, Pew research shows. Republican gun owners are least supportive of policies restricting access to guns while Democratic who don’t own guns are most supportive.
Pew's research also shows that men are more likely than women to say they own a gun (39% versus 22%).
When it comes to gun laws, roughly half of Americans (53%) favor stricter gun laws, a decline since 2019, according to Pew. People are divided over whether restricting legal gun ownership would lead to fewer mass shootings. Half of adults say there would be fewer mass shootings if gun laws were stricter, while 42% say this would make no difference, or that there would be more mass shootings (9%).
One Pew survey shows that there is broad partisan agreement on some gun policy proposals but most are politically divisive. Residents in rural areas typically favor more expansive gun access, while those in urban places prefer more restricted policies.
The Pew Research Center conducted this analysis to share key facts about Americans and guns by using data from their polling and from Gallup surveys. For more information from this report click here.
Andre Claudio is assistant editor of Route Fifty.
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