Key facts about Americans and guns
About six-in-ten U.S. adults (58%) favor stricter gun laws. Another 26% say that U.S. gun laws are about right, while 15% favor less strict gun laws.
Gun Policy
About 1 in 4 U.S. teachers say their school went into a gun-related lockdown in the last school year
59% of public K-12 teachers say they are at least somewhat worried about the possibility of a shooting ever happening at their school.
For Most U.S. Gun Owners, Protection Is the Main Reason They Own a Gun
Gun owners in the United States continue to cite protection far more than other factors, including hunting and sport shooting, as a major reason they own a gun. About half of Americans who don’t own a gun say they could never see themselves owning one (52%) while nearly as many could imagine themselves as gun owners in the future (47%).
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Abortion Rises in Importance as a Voting Issue, Driven by Democrats
While the economy remains the dominant issue in this fall’s midterm elections, the issue of abortion has increased markedly in importance. More voters continue to view their midterm vote as an expression of opposition to Joe Biden than support for him. But across both parties, more voters now say Biden is not much of a factor in their vote.
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Broad Public Approval of New Gun Law, but Few Say It Will Do a Lot To Stem Gun Violence
Republicans and Democrats differ sharply in views of the new gun law, its effectiveness and whether further gun legislation will be necessary. Roughly six-in-ten adults (63%) say they want to see Congress pass another round of legislation to address gun violence, compared with 35% who do not.
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What we know about the increase in U.S. murders in 2020
The U.S. murder rate rose 30% between 2019 and 2020 – the largest single-year increase in more than a century.
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Wide differences on most gun policies between gun owners and non-owners, but also some agreement
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.
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Amid a Series of Mass Shootings in the U.S., Gun Policy Remains Deeply Divisive
While a few proposals continue to garner bipartisan support, partisan divisions on others – including a ban on assault-style weapons – have grown wider.
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Share of Americans who favor stricter gun laws has increased since 2017
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.
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Gun Policy Remains Divisive, But Several Proposals Still Draw Bipartisan Support
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.
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Where the public stands on key issues that could come before the Supreme Court
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.
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Nearly two-thirds of U.S. secondary schools have sworn officers on site – but not all the time
The share of U.S. public secondary schools with sworn officers on site has increased in the past decade.
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A majority of U.S. teens fear a shooting could happen at their school, and most parents share their concern
More than half of U.S. teens say they are worried about the possibility of a shooting happening at their school, with one-in-four saying they are very worried.
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