So, occasionally data falls out exactly the way you would expect it to…. But still it’s important to report, just to provide some basis for our intuition. With respect to our data on gun policy and restrictions, in general as one might assume:
- Women (especially young women ages 18-29) are less likely to own guns and more likely to support stringent gun restrictions than men (especially those ages 50+) are.
- Northeasterners are significantly less likely to own guns and much more likely to support stricter gun laws than other regions of the country (especially Southerners) are.
- Young adults are more likely to favor making guns totally illegal than their older counterparts are.
- Republicans are much more likely than Democrats to have guns in their household, object to additional restrictions on gun ownership, and believe the intention of the 2nd Amendment is to protect citizens’ rights to own guns.
That said, there are still a few demographic nuggets that are slightly more surprising (at least to me) – and that have the potential to signal real reform and action:
- Substantial majorities of both Republicans and Democrats support tighter restrictions on gun ownership including: mandating background checks requiring gun safety courses, creating mandatory waiting periods, and requiring permits to carry concealed weapons.
- Having kids under 18 in your household has essentially no bearing on whether or not you keep a gun in your home. Parents are just as likely as non-parents to own a gun (22% among both groups).
- Gun owners (93%) and non-gun owners (96%) overwhelmingly agree that there should be a mandatory background check before anyone purchases a gun.
Few issues command this much bipartisan support among the public, so perhaps the timing is right – and now – for Barack Obama, Joe Biden and the Congress to create some landmark legislation. What do you think?
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