GALLUP NEWS SERVICE
PRINCETON, NJ -- The National Rifle Association (NRA), the nation's leading gun lobby and firearms-owner membership group, will hold its annual convention in Charlotte, North Carolina this weekend. This event will likely receive considerable attention, as it comes on the heels of the Million Mom March, and is occurring in an election year when gun control issues have been a frequent topic on the presidential campaign trail. The NRA is often criticized for its staunch opposition to the passage of new gun control measures, but on balance, Americans have a favorable opinion of the organization. In a CNN/USA Today/Gallup poll conducted April 7-9, 51% of Americans expressed a favorable view of the National Rifle Association, while 39% had an unfavorable view of the group. These numbers are essentially unchanged from last year.
Perhaps a major reason behind the public's net favorable opinion of the NRA is that gun ownership is fairly common among Americans. In a Gallup poll conducted May 5-7 in conjunction with Women.com, 34% of Americans said they "personally owned a handgun, rifle, shotgun or any other kind of firearm." Forty-two percent of Americans in the April 7-9 poll indicated they had a "gun in [their] home." Over the past several decades in which this question has been asked, the proportion of Americans saying they had a gun in their home has ranged from 34% to 51%.
Opinions on Guns Differ Greatly According to Gun
Ownership
Not surprisingly, gun owners are more
favorably disposed than non-owners toward the National Rifle
Association. What is surprising, though, is the degree of
divergence between the two groups' attitudes. In the April 7-9
poll, 71% of those who had guns in their households had a favorable
opinion of the NRA, compared to only 36% of those who did not have
guns in their households. Gun ownership also plays a part in
determining the intensity of a person's opinion toward the NRA.
Those with guns in their households were three times more likely to
say they had a "very favorable" opinion of the NRA (24%) than were
those who did not have guns (8%). On the opposite end of the
spectrum, Americans with guns in their household were three times
less likely to express a "very unfavorable" evaluation of the NRA
than were those without a gun in the household (10% versus
30%).
The divide between gun owners and non-owners is not confined to opinions of the NRA. On most issues dealing with gun control, gun owners' opinions look very different from those of people who do not own guns. For example, when gun owners were asked in the May 5-7 poll if laws on firearms sales should be made more strict, less strict, or kept as they are now, only 40% called for stricter laws, while 76% of non-owners did so. Additionally, a greater percentage of gun owners than non-owners say they arelesslikely to vote for candidates who want stricter registration of handguns, who favor limits on gun purchases per month, or who favor trigger-lock requirements on handguns.
Interestingly, gun owners and non-owners also differ considerably on the primary cause of gun violence in America. Fifty-six percent of gun owners think the primary cause of gun violence is the way parents raise their children, while 27% point to the influences of popular culture and only 10% blame the availability of guns. Among non-owners, 28% cite the availability of guns as the major cause of gun violence, while 38% believe gun violence has to do with the way parents raise their children, and 25% think popular culture is the major factor.
Who Are America's Gun Owners?
The demographic
characteristics of gun owners (according to the May 5-7 data) are
different from those of non-owners in many ways:
- Men are more than twice as likely as women to own a gun, by a
margin of 45% to 22%.
- Those who reside in the Midwest (37%), West (35%) and South
(38%) are much more likely to own a gun than are those in the East
(23%).
- Gun owners tend to be wealthier than non-owners. Forty-one
percent of those whose household income exceeds $50,000 own a gun,
compared to 32% of those with incomes between $20,000 and $50,000,
and only 23% of those with incomes below $20,000.
- Americans with less formal education are slightly more likely
to own guns than are those with more education. Thirty-six percent
of those with a high school education or less own a gun, compared
to 31% of college graduates.
- Forty-three percent of Americans between the ages of 50 and 64
own a gun, a greater percentage than any other age group. Younger
Americans -- those between the ages of 18 and 29 -- are the least
likely to own a gun (26%).
- Gun ownership also varies by political beliefs. Republicans
(46%) and conservatives (44%) are much more likely to own a gun
than are Democrats (24%) and liberals (22%).
Survey Methods
The results below are based on
telephone interviews with randomly selected national samples of
1,006 adults, 18 years and older, conducted April 7-9, 2000, and
1,031 adults, 18 years and older, conducted May 5-7, 2000. For
results based on either of these samples, one can say with 95
percent confidence that the maximum error attributable to sampling
and other random effects is plus or minus 3 percentage points. In
addition to sampling error, question wording and practical
difficulties in conducting surveys can introduce error or bias into
the findings of public opinion polls.
Do you have a gun in your home?
|
Yes |
No |
No opinion |
|
|
% |
% |
% |
|
|
2000 Apr 7-9 |
42 |
57 |
1 |
|
1999 Apr 26-27 |
34 |
64 |
2 |
|
1999 Feb 8-9 |
36 |
62 |
2 |
|
1997 Aug 22-25 |
42 |
57 |
1 |
|
1996 Nov 21-24 |
44 |
54 |
2 |
|
1996 Jul 25-28 |
38 |
60 |
2 |
|
1993 Oct 13-18 |
51 |
48 |
1 |
|
1993 Mar 12-14 |
48 |
51 |
1 |
|
1991 |
46 |
53 |
1 |
|
1990 |
47 |
52 |
1 |
|
1989 |
47 |
51 |
2 |
|
1985 |
44 |
55 |
1 |
|
1983 |
40 |
58 |
2 |
|
1980 |
45 |
53 |
2 |
|
1975 |
44 |
54 |
2 |
|
1972 |
43 |
55 |
2 |
|
1968 |
50 |
50 |
-- |
|
1965 |
48 |
52 |
-- |
|
1959 |
49 |
51 |
-- |
Do you personally own a handgun, rifle, shotgun or any other kind of firearm?
|
Yes |
No |
No opinion |
|
|
2000 May 5-7 |
34% |
64 |
2 |
What is your overall opinion of the National Rifle Association, also known as the NRA -- very favorable, mostly favorable, mostly unfavorable, or very unfavorable?
|
Very favorable |
Mostly favorable |
Mostly unfavorable |
Very unfavorable |
No |
|
|
% |
% |
% |
% |
% |
|
|
2000 Apr 7-9 |
15 |
36 |
20 |
19 |
10 |
|
Gun in household |
24 |
47 |
13 |
10 |
6 |
|
No gun |
8 |
28 |
24 |
30 |
10 |
|
1999 Apr 26-27 |
14 |
37 |
22 |
18 |
9 |
|
1995 Jun 5-6 |
14 |
28 |
25 |
26 |
7 |
|
1993 Mar |
22 |
33 |
18 |
14 |
13 |
In general, do you feel that the laws covering the sale of firearms should be made more strict, less strict, or kept as they are now?
|
|
More strict |
Less strict |
Kept as now |
No opinion |
|
% |
% |
% |
% |
|
|
2000 May 5-7 |
||||
|
Total |
62 |
5 |
31 |
2 |
|
Personally own gun |
40 |
8 |
50 |
1 |
|
Do not own gun |
76 |
3 |
20 |
1 |
|
2000 Apr 7-9 |
61 |
7 |
30 |
2 |
|
1999 Dec 9-12 |
60 |
10 |
29 |
1 |
|
1999 Aug 3-4 |
66 |
6 |
27 |
1 |
|
1999 Jun 25-27 |
62 |
6 |
31 |
1 |
|
1999 May 23-24 |
65 |
5 |
28 |
2 |
|
1999 Apr 26-27 |
66 |
7 |
25 |
2 |
|
1999 Feb 8-9 |
60 |
9 |
29 |
2 |
|
1995 Apr 23-24** |
62 |
12 |
24 |
2 |
|
1993 Dec 17-19 |
67 |
7 |
25 |
1 |
|
1993 Mar |
70 |
4 |
24 |
2 |
|
1991 |
68 |
5 |
25 |
2 |
|
1990 |
78 |
2 |
17 |
3 |
**Asked of half sample
Which of the following do you think is the primary cause of gun violence in America -- the availability of guns, the way parents raise their children, or the influences of popular culture such as movies, television, and the Internet?
|
Availability of guns |
Way parents raise their children |
Influences of popular culture |
OTHER (vol.) |
No opinion |
|
|
2000 May 5-7 |
|||||
|
Total |
21% |
45 |
26 |
6 |
2 |
|
Personally own gun |
10% |
56 |
27 |
5 |
2 |
|
Do not own gun |
28% |
38 |
25 |
7 |
2 |
Would you be more likely or less likely to vote for a presidential candidate who took each of the following positions on guns, or would that issue not have much effect on your vote? First,… . Next, … . (Rotated)
|
More likely |
Less likely |
Not much effect |
No opinion |
A candidate who favors stricter registration of all handguns
|
2000 May 5-7 |
||||
|
Total |
65% |
17 |
16 |
2 |
|
Own gun |
50% |
30 |
18 |
1 |
|
No gun |
74% |
10 |
14 |
2 |
A candidate who favors limiting gun purchases to no more than one per month
|
2000 May 5-7 |
||||
|
Total |
43% |
26 |
27 |
4 |
|
Own gun |
38% |
33 |
26 |
3 |
|
No gun |
47% |
22 |
27 |
4 |
A candidate who favors requiring gun manufacturers to install built-in trigger locks on all handguns
|
2000 May 5-7 |
||||
|
Total |
66% |
14 |
17 |
3 |
|
Own gun |
62% |
20 |
18 |
1 |
|
No gun |
69% |
10 |
17 |
4 |
(vol.) Volunteered response
