Pew Research Center's Latest Report Sheds
Light on Firearms Ownership & More...
By Tim Schmidt - USCCA Founder. June 2017
The Pew Research Center – the "nonpartisan fact tank that informs the public about the issues, attitudes and trends shaping America and the world" – released an extensive report Thursday called "America's Complex Relationship With Guns."
According to the Pew Research Center, "The survey attempts to better understand the complex relationship Americans have with guns and how that relationship intersects with their policy views."
The report examines a variety of topics, including the demographics of gun ownership, views on gun safety, the key responsibilities of gun owners, the use of guns in daily life, views on gun policy and more.
Given the USCCA's mission of providing education, training and self-defense insurance to responsible American gun owners, I was especially interested to read that a whopping two-thirds (67%) of those who own one or more firearms cited protection as a "major reason" for doing so, topping both hunting (38%) and sport shooting (30%).
Interestingly, Pew uncovered that women (71%) were slightly more likely than men (65%) to own a gun for that particular reason. Of the folks who said they do own guns, 1 in 7 also said they had fired (or had threatened to fire) their gun to "defend themselves, their family or their possessions."
That's a heck of a lot of people owning guns for self-defense – and a fair amount of people also using them for that purpose.
Some other interesting statistics:
- 95% of gun owners and 89% of non-gun owners said it "is essential for gun owners to talk to their children about gun safety."
- 89% of both gun owners and non-gun owners said they "strongly favor or somewhat favor preventing the mentally ill from purchasing guns."
- 83% of gun owners and 87% of non-gun owners said "the ease with which people can ILLEGALLY obtain guns contributes a great deal or a fair amount to gun violence in the country today." Compare this to the 44% of gun owners and 67% of non-gun owners who said "the ease with which people can LEGALLY obtain guns contributes a great deal or a fair amount to gun violence in the country today."
- The majority of gun owners (74%) said "the right to own guns is essential to their own sense of freedom." Only 35% of non-gun owners said the same.
In addition to these and many other attitudes, the survey "found a sharp drop in overall support for gun control. For example, when people were asked whether it was more important to protect gun rights or control gun ownership, 51% favored gun control and 47% favored gun rights. Compare that with responses in 2000, when two-thirds of those surveyed said they supported gun control measures."
I encourage you to take a look at the full report here.
It's important that each of us stays informed about guns, gun ownership, gun safety and gun rights across America; after all, the only way to stay ahead of popular public opinion is to be armed with the truth.
Take Care and Stay Safe,
Tim Schmidt
Publisher - Concealed Carry Report
USCCA Founder
The trend towards being in favor of gun rights has been steadily on the increase which is encouraging, and emphasis on self defense has also taken priority. It is also encouraging to learn that the vast majority of gun owners see the need to educate children about all aspects of gun safety. "Guns save lives" means a lot more now than it did in the past.
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