Pew Pew Research Poll Shows Sharp Increase in Gun Ownership

Say what you want about Obama and the gun control agenda’s recent push to enact gun control laws across the country, but a delightful byproduct of their efforts is an increasing number of gun-owning households in the United States.

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national survey conducted by Pew Research Center from August 9-16 discovered at least 44% of American homes now have guns compared to 51% without.

The survey also showed an increase of the public perception that gun ownership does more to protect people from becoming victims of crime. 58% of those polled said they believe owning a gun makes people safer compared with 37% who believe owning a gun puts people’s safety at risk.

Pew also reports the political divide continues to widen. Clinton supporters prioritize controlling gun ownership over protecting gun rights by more than four-to-one (79% to 19%) while Trump supporters express the exact opposite view, responding by about nine-to-one (90% to 9%) that it is generally more important to protect gun rights than control gun ownership.

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But language is key, and if the Pew Research article is any indication, some questions may have been a bit misleading:

For the past several years, large majorities of both Democrats and Republicans have favored making private gun sales and sales at gun shows subject to background checks.

Today, this proposal draws support from 90% of registered voters who back Hillary Clinton and 75% of voters who back Donald Trump.

About twice as many Clinton supporters as Trump backers favor a ban on assault-style weapons (74% vs. 34%) and the differences are about as large in views of a ban on high-capacity ammunition clips (75% vs. 34%).

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Of course, we know purchases made at gun shows are already subject to background checks, despite the best efforts of the gun control agenda to claim otherwise. (insert ‘gun show loophole joke of choice here)

Additionally, TPR shows roughly six-in-ten of respondents in households without guns support a “ban on assault-style weapons” (61%) and “high-capacity clips” (57%). No information was provided to clarify what firearms pollsters were referring to with the term “assault-style weapons” or if respondents were made aware of the rigorous process citizens are subjected to when attempting to (legally) purchase a Title II firearm.AugustGuns_3

Pew Research Center undertakes all polling activity, including calls to mobile telephone numbers, in compliance with the Telephone Consumer Protection Act and other applicable laws.

Pew Research Center is a nonprofit, tax-exempt 501(c)(3) organization and a subsidiary of The Pew Charitable Trusts, its primary funder.

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