The contentious debate – controlled by NRA money with the possible support of Russia courtship of senior NRA leaders and blatant interfering with US elections – has manipulated public opinion about gun policies goes on and on. However, there are specific policy proposals that widespread broad support from both Republicans and Democrats, according to the respected Pew Research Center. Following is Pews latest research.
“Overwhelming majorities of Republicans and Republican-leaning independents and Democrats and Democratic leaners (89% each) say mentally ill people should be barred from buying guns. Nearly as many in both parties (86% of Democrats, 83% of Republicans) favor barring gun purchases by people on federal watch lists. And sizable majorities also favor making private gun sales and sales at gun shows subject to background checks (91% of Democrats, 79% of Republicans),” according to Pew.
“Democrats are more than twice as likely as Republicans to say gun laws in the U.S. should be stricter than they are today (80% vs. 28%). About half of Republicans say current laws are about right (52%), while 20% say they should be less strict.
‘Like attitudes on specific gun proposals, gun ownership also impacts views of the strictness of gun laws. Within each party, non-gun owners were more likely than gun owners to say laws should be stricter.
“Democrats – regardless of whether they personally own a gun – overwhelmingly say stricter laws are needed, though fewer Democratic gun owners than non-gun-owners favor making laws stricter (64% vs. 84%).
“And while Republicans generally oppose stricter gun laws, support for tougher laws is more widespread among Republican non-gun owners (40%) than gun owners (13%).
Changes in Access to Guns on Crime, Mass Shootings
“The public is mixed when it comes to the potential impact that more Americans owning guns would have on crime in the U.S. Comparable shares say that if more Americans owned guns, there would be more crime (37%) or there would be no impact on the amount of crime (33%). About one-in-three say there would be less crime.
“Republicans and Democrats are deeply split on the possible impact of more Americans owning guns. Half of Republicans and Republican-leaning independents say there would be less crime (50%), while a majority of Democrats say there would be more crime (56%).
“Mirroring the gap among partisans, gun-owners and non-gun owners are also deeply divided. A small majority of gun owners say more gun ownership would lead to less crime while nearly half of non-gun owners say there would be more crime.
“The public also is divided over the impact of making it harder to legally own guns on mass shootings in the U.S. Nearly half of adults (47%) say that if it was harder for people to legally obtain guns in the United States, there would be fewer mass shootings in this country. An equal share (46%) say it would make no difference in the number of these incidents, and 6% say it would result in more mass shootings.
“Overall, public views are little changed since the question was last asked in 2017. However, the share who say there would be more mass shootings if it were harder to own guns is smaller – from 13% in a year ago to 6% today.”
Gun Policy Activism: Modest Partisan Gaps, Except on Protests
“Relatively few Americans say they have ever expressed their feelings about the issue of guns by either posting on social media (26%), contributing money to an organization that takes a position on gun policy (14%), contacting a public official to express an opinion on guns (14%) or attending a rally or protest about the issue of guns (6%).
“Even smaller shares say they have done any of these activities in the past year.
“On two behaviors surveyed in 2017 and today – contributing money to an organization or contacting a public official – the share who report having done either is little changed. In 2017, 6% of adults said they had contacted a public official in the previous year to express an opinion on gun policy. Today, 7% of adults say they have contacted an official in the past 12 months.
“Similarly, in 2017, 7% of adults said they had contributed money to an organization in the past year. Today, an equal share (7%) say the same.
“There are no significant differences in expressions of views on gun policy by age or gender, but larger differences by gun ownership and partisanship.
“Gun owners were more likely than non-gun owners to say they had publicly expressed feelings about the issue of guns on social media (22% vs. 16%) or contributed money to an organization that takes a position on gun policy (13% vs. 5%) in the past 12 months.
“Differences between gun owners and non-gun owners are particularly pronounced among Republicans and Republican-leaning independents. A quarter of Republican gun-owners said they had posted about guns on social media in the last year (25%), contributed money to an organization (16%) or contacted a public official (9%). Among non-gun owning Republicans, fewer reported engaging in these activities.
“In contrast, there are few differences between gun owning and non-gun owning Democrats.
“And while Republicans and Democrats overall report similar levels of engagement in expressive activities on guns, Democrats are more likely than Republicans to say they had attended a rally or protest about the issue of guns in the past 12 months (5% vs 1%, respectively).”
More People Want Gun Ownership Controls Than Gun Rights!
“Overwhelming majorities of Republicans and Republican-leaning independents and Democrats and Democratic leaners (89% each) say mentally ill people should be barred from buying guns. Nearly as many in both parties (86% of Democrats, 83% of Republicans) favor barring gun purchases by people on federal watch lists. And sizable majorities also favor making private gun sales and sales at gun shows subject to background checks (91% of Democrats, 79% of Republicans),” according to Pew.
“Democrats are more than twice as likely as Republicans to say gun laws in the U.S. should be stricter than they are today (80% vs. 28%). About half of Republicans say current laws are about right (52%), while 20% say they should be less strict.
‘Like attitudes on specific gun proposals, gun ownership also impacts views of the strictness of gun laws. Within each party, non-gun owners were more likely than gun owners to say laws should be stricter.
“Democrats – regardless of whether they personally own a gun – overwhelmingly say stricter laws are needed, though fewer Democratic gun owners than non-gun-owners favor making laws stricter (64% vs. 84%).
“And while Republicans generally oppose stricter gun laws, support for tougher laws is more widespread among Republican non-gun owners (40%) than gun owners (13%).
Changes in Access to Guns on Crime, Mass Shootings
“The public is mixed when it comes to the potential impact that more Americans owning guns would have on crime in the U.S. Comparable shares say that if more Americans owned guns, there would be more crime (37%) or there would be no impact on the amount of crime (33%). About one-in-three say there would be less crime.
“Republicans and Democrats are deeply split on the possible impact of more Americans owning guns. Half of Republicans and Republican-leaning independents say there would be less crime (50%), while a majority of Democrats say there would be more crime (56%).
“Mirroring the gap among partisans, gun-owners and non-gun owners are also deeply divided. A small majority of gun owners say more gun ownership would lead to less crime while nearly half of non-gun owners say there would be more crime.
“The public also is divided over the impact of making it harder to legally own guns on mass shootings in the U.S. Nearly half of adults (47%) say that if it was harder for people to legally obtain guns in the United States, there would be fewer mass shootings in this country. An equal share (46%) say it would make no difference in the number of these incidents, and 6% say it would result in more mass shootings.
“Overall, public views are little changed since the question was last asked in 2017. However, the share who say there would be more mass shootings if it were harder to own guns is smaller – from 13% in a year ago to 6% today.”
Gun Policy Activism: Modest Partisan Gaps, Except on Protests
“Relatively few Americans say they have ever expressed their feelings about the issue of guns by either posting on social media (26%), contributing money to an organization that takes a position on gun policy (14%), contacting a public official to express an opinion on guns (14%) or attending a rally or protest about the issue of guns (6%).
“Even smaller shares say they have done any of these activities in the past year.
“On two behaviors surveyed in 2017 and today – contributing money to an organization or contacting a public official – the share who report having done either is little changed. In 2017, 6% of adults said they had contacted a public official in the previous year to express an opinion on gun policy. Today, 7% of adults say they have contacted an official in the past 12 months.
“Similarly, in 2017, 7% of adults said they had contributed money to an organization in the past year. Today, an equal share (7%) say the same.
“There are no significant differences in expressions of views on gun policy by age or gender, but larger differences by gun ownership and partisanship.
“Gun owners were more likely than non-gun owners to say they had publicly expressed feelings about the issue of guns on social media (22% vs. 16%) or contributed money to an organization that takes a position on gun policy (13% vs. 5%) in the past 12 months.
“Differences between gun owners and non-gun owners are particularly pronounced among Republicans and Republican-leaning independents. A quarter of Republican gun-owners said they had posted about guns on social media in the last year (25%), contributed money to an organization (16%) or contacted a public official (9%). Among non-gun owning Republicans, fewer reported engaging in these activities.
“In contrast, there are few differences between gun owning and non-gun owning Democrats.
“And while Republicans and Democrats overall report similar levels of engagement in expressive activities on guns, Democrats are more likely than Republicans to say they had attended a rally or protest about the issue of guns in the past 12 months (5% vs 1%, respectively).”