Gun Policy

In 2020, the U.S. experienced a record number of gun murders, as well as a near-record number of gun suicides.

Pew Research Center’s political typology provides a roadmap to today’s fractured political landscape. It organizes the public into nine distinct groups, based on an analysis of their attitudes and values. Even in a polarized era, the 2021 survey reveals deep divisions in both partisan coalitions.

The U.S. murder rate rose 30% between 2019 and 2020 – the largest single-year increase in more than a century.

Here are some key findings about Americans’ attitudes about gun violence, gun policy and other subjects, drawn from recent surveys.

U.S. gun owners have long favored more permissive gun policies while adults who do not own guns have tended to favor more restrictive ones.

While a few proposals continue to garner bipartisan support, partisan divisions on others – including a ban on assault-style weapons – have grown wider.

Despite deep partisan divisions on the issue, there has been a modest rise in support for stricter gun laws in the United States since 2017.

The partisan divide that for years has defined public opinion about the nation’s gun policies remains firmly in place. Yet there continue to be several specific policy proposals that draw broad support from both Republicans and Democrats.

With less than four weeks until the midterm elections, Republican and Democratic voters differ widely in views of the seriousness of numerous problems facing the United States, including the fairness of the criminal justice system, climate change, economic inequality and illegal immigration. Majorities of registered voters who support Democratic candidates for Congress rate 13 of […]

Ahead of the Senate’s deliberations over Kavanaugh, here’s a look at where the public stands on some of the major legal, political and social issues that could come before the Supreme Court in the years ahead.