Inside UNITED STATES Gun Culture

About eight-in-ten Black adults (82%) say gun violence is a very big problem – by far the largest share of any racial or ethnic group. Democratic non-gun owners are generally the most likely to favor restrictions.

For example, a majority of Republicans who don’t own a gun (57%) say they favor creating a federal government database to track all gun sales, while 30% of Republican gun owners say the same. About eight-in-ten Black adults (82%) say gun violence is a very big problem – by far the largest share of any racial or ethnic group. But Americans are split over whether legal changes would lead to fewer mass shootings, according to the same spring 2021 poll. These proposals are supported by just 20% and 24% of Democrats, respectively. Gun ownership is closely linked with views on gun policies. Even though rural areas tend to be more Republican and urban communities more Democratic, this pattern holds true even within each political party. 22%). 5, 2016. A third of rural Democrats (33%), for instance, support allowing teachers and other school officials to carry guns in K-12 schools, compared with 21% of those in urban areas.

Note: This is an update of a post originally published on Jan. In 2020, the number of monthly federal background checks for gun purchases was consistently at least 20% higher than in the same month in 2019, according to the FBI’s National Instant Criminal Background Check System. That’s comparable to the share who say the same about the federal budget deficit (49%), violent crime (48%), illegal immigration (48%) and the coronavirus outbreak (47%). Conversely, about half of Republicans who live in urban communities (51%) favor bans on assault-style weapons, compared with 31% of those living in rural areas. Democrats favor more gun restrictions regardless of where they live, but there are still some differences by community type. Only one issue is viewed as a very big problem by a majority of Americans: the affordability of health care (56%).Attitudes about gun violence differ widely by race, ethnicity, party and community type. For instance, 44% of Republicans and Republican-leaning independents say they personally own a gun, compared with 20% of Democrats and Democratic leaners.

Men are more likely than women to say they own a gun (39% vs. In a Gallup survey conducted in August 2019, gun owners were most likely to cite personal safety or protection as the reason they own a firearm. This is true even among gun owners and non-owners within the same political party, according to the April 2021 Center survey.

Among Republicans, gun owners are generally less likely than non-owners to favor policies that restrict access to guns. Majorities in both partisan coalitions favor two policies that would restrict gun access: preventing those with mental illnesses from purchasing guns (85% of Republicans and 90% of Democrats support this) and subjecting private gun sales and gun show sales to background checks (70% of Republicans, 92% of Democrats). (Due to sample size limitations, data for Asian Americans is not available.)Americans are divided over whether restricting legal gun ownership would lead to fewer mass shootings. The largest comparative percentage point difference occurred in July 2020 – when about 3.6 million background checks were completed, 44% more than were conducted in July 2019.Personal protection tops the list of reasons why gun owners say they own a firearm. For instance, while majorities of Democratic gun owners and non-owners both favor banning assault-style weapons and banning high-capacity magazines, Democratic gun owners are about 20 percentage points less likely to say this. Americans in rural areas typically favor more expansive gun access, while Americans in urban places prefer more restrictive policies, according to the April 2021 survey. By comparison, about six-in-ten Hispanic adults (58%) and 39% of White adults view gun violence this way. The same percentage (34%) say there would be no difference in crime, while 31% say there would be less crime. There is broad partisan agreement on some gun policy proposals, but most are politically divisive, the April 2021 survey found. By comparison, about six-in-ten Hispanic adults (58%) and 39% of White adults view gun violence this way. About half of adults (49%) say there would be fewer mass shootings if it was harder for people to obtain guns legally, while about as many either say this would make no difference (42%) or that there would be more mass shootings (9%).

The public is even more divided about the effects of gun ownership on crime overall. There are similar-sized gaps among Republicans who own guns and those who do not on banning assault-style weapons and high-capacity magazines.

Among Democrats, there are modest gaps on gun policies by gun ownership. Debates over the nation’s gun laws have often followed recent mass shootings. There are differences in gun ownership rates by political party affiliation, gender, geography and other factors. And 41% of adults living in rural areas report owning a firearm, compared with about 29% of those living in the suburbs and two-in-ten living in cities.

Federal data suggests that gun sales have risen in recent years, particularly during the coronavirus pandemic. Roughly six-in-ten (63%) said this in an open-ended question. Considerably smaller shares gave other reasons, including hunting (40%), nonspecific recreation or sport (11%), that their gun was an antique or a family heirloom (6%) or that the gun was related to their line of work (5%).Around half of Americans (48%) see gun violence as a very big problem in the country today, according to a Pew Research Center survey conducted in April 2021. For example, 71% of rural Republicans favor allowing teachers and other school officials to carry guns in K-12 schools, compared with 56% of Republicans living in urban places. Around a third (34%) say that if more people owned guns, there would be more crime. (Due to sample size limitations, data for Asian Americans is not available.)Attitudes about gun violence differ widely by race, ethnicity, party and community type. Majorities in both parties also oppose allowing people to carry concealed firearms without a permit.

Other proposals bring out stark partisan rifts. While 80% or more Democrats favor creating a federal database to track all gun sales and banning both assault-style weapons and high-capacity ammunition magazines that hold more than 10 rounds, majorities of Republicans oppose these proposals.

Most Republicans, on the other hand, support allowing people to carry concealed guns in more places (72%) and allowing teachers and school officials to carry guns in K-12 schools (66%).