Gallup: Support for Stricter Gun Control Laws Reaches Lowest Point in 7 Years
Americans’ support for stricter gun control laws has fallen to its lowest point since 2014.
Gallup asked respondents in a recent poll if they felt laws covering the sale of firearms should be more or less strict or kept as they are.
Fifty-two percent answered they should be stricter, while 11 percent called for the laws to be less strict and 35 percent wanted the them to remain the same.
In 2014, a little less that half of Americans, 47 percent, wanted stricter laws.
The current support level is down from its recent high of 67 percent when Gallup asked the question in 2018, the same year as the Parkland, Florida, school shooting.
This year’s 5 percent drop in backing tighter gun laws followed a 7 percent fall in 2020.
Gallup poll finds Americans’ support for stricter gun control laws has reached a 7-year low. #SecondAmendment pic.twitter.com/CseyQRjNeE
— Randy DeSoto (@RandyDeSoto) November 24, 2021
Gallup noted, “The decline in support for stricter gun laws last year was mostly due to a 14-point drop among Republicans, to 22 percent — the group’s lowest point on record. This year’s decrease is driven by a 15-point plunge among independents.
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“For their part, Democrats’ desire for more restrictive gun laws ticked up to 91 percent.”
On the third anniversary of the Parkland shooting in February, President Joe Biden called for Congress to pass further gun control legislation.
“I am calling on Congress to enact commonsense gun law reforms, including requiring background checks on all gun sales, banning assault weapons and high-capacity magazines and eliminating immunity for gun manufacturers who knowingly put weapons of war on our streets,” Biden said.
“We owe it to all those we’ve lost and to all those left behind to grieve to make a change. The time to act is now.”
In 2020 Americans bought more guns than ever before — 23 million — according to Small Arms Analytics.
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The trend has continued into 2021, according to CNN.
“In March, the FBI reported almost 4.7 million background checks — the most of any month since the agency started keeping track more than 20 years ago, and a whopping 77% increase over March 2019,” the outlet reported.
Ken Baye, owner of Stoddard’s Range and Guns in Atlanta, told CNN that he’s seeing many new gun owners from varied demographics.
“We see a lot of women come in, a lot of couples, people with children,” he said. “We’re really seeing pretty much every walk of life.”
The Wall Street Journal reported, “Jeffrey M. Jones, a senior editor at Gallup, said that along with crime, the election of a president who has called for new gun laws contributed to the declining support for gun-control measures.”
The Gallup also discovered support for a complete ban on handguns reached an all-time low of 19 percent in 2021.
Gallup: Support for handgun ban hits a new record low of 19% pic.twitter.com/wxhMPtBRDi
— Jewish Deplorable (@TrumpJew2) November 17, 2021
A Quinnipiac University Poll released last week found that 49 percent oppose stricter gun laws, while 45 percent support them.
This was a reversal from April, when more Americans, 54 percent, supported stricter laws, while 42 percent opposed them.
The Gallup poll was conducted from Oct. 1-19, with a random sample of 823 adults living in the United States. The margin of error is +/- 4 percent.
