Majorities Favor Stricter Gun Laws, Assault Rifle Ban

WASHINGTON, D.C. — Fifty-six percent of Americans say laws covering the sale of firearms should be made more strict, 27% say they should be kept as they are, and 15% want them made less strict. Support for stricter laws has edged down from last year’s 60% but matches the 2023 and 2024 readings. It remains well below the 78% high recorded in 1990, when Gallup first asked this question.

The 15% of Americans who favor less strict gun laws is a new high, one percentage point above the previous high in 2014 and three points higher than last year.

Gallup’s Oct. 1-19 poll finds that partisans continue to have markedly different views on gun laws. Currently, 16% of Republicans favor stricter laws, while half favor keeping gun laws as they are and 31% want them made less strict. This is the first time in Gallup’s trend that more Republicans favor less strict gun laws over stricter ones. The current survey also represents the lowest level of Republican support for more strict laws and the highest for less strict laws.

Independents continue to favor stricter gun laws, although support has declined from 63% last year to 54% today. The current reading is similar to those between 2022 and 2024 but below the 64% high recorded in 2019. In addition, 28% of independents now favor keeping gun laws unchanged, and 16% want them made less strict. The latter figure ties the highest percentage recorded in the past 25 years, matching readings in 2009 and 2010.

Unlike Republicans and independents, Democrats have maintained consistently high support for stricter gun laws in recent years. Eighty-nine percent now favor making gun laws more strict, similar to readings since 2017, when support first reached 90%. Before then, support generally ranged from about six in 10 to eight in 10 Democrats. Just 9% now favor keeping gun laws unchanged, while 1% want them made less strict.

In addition to these partisan differences, women are more likely than men to favor stricter gun laws (65% vs. 45%, respectively).

Support for Assault Rifle Ban Steady at Majority Level

A separate Gallup question finds that 54% of Americans favor banning the manufacture, possession and sale of semiautomatic guns, known as assault rifles, while 44% oppose such a ban. Support is similar to the 52% recorded in 2024 and 55% in 2022 but below the 61% measured in 2019, a year marked by several high-profile mass shootings.

Democrats remain the most supportive of an assault rifle ban, at 75%, although this is below the 89% recorded in 2022 and 85% in 2019. Meanwhile, 52% of independents favor a ban, similar to previous readings, while Republican support stands at 28%, compared with 38% in 2019.

As has been the case throughout the trend, women and older adults are more likely than their counterparts to support an assault weapons ban. Women are currently about twice as likely as men to favor a ban on assault rifles (70% vs. 36%). Sixty-one percent of Americans aged 55 and older favor a ban, compared with 53% of those aged 35 to 54 and 43% of those aged 18 to 34.

Four in 10 Americans Worry About Becoming Mass Shooting Victims

The survey also measured Americans' personal concerns about becoming a victim of a mass shooting, updating a question asked five times since 2015. Four in 10 Americans say they are very (12%) or somewhat (28%) worried that they or a family member will become a victim of a mass shooting, while 32% say they are not too worried and 27% not worried at all. The current level of worry is below the 48% recorded in August 2019 and 45% the following month, but similar to the 38% to 39% figures measured in 2015 and 2017.

Concern about being a mass shooting victim varies considerably by party, with 51% of Democrats and 45% of independents saying they are very or somewhat worried, compared with 21% of Republicans. The partisan pattern has reversed since 2015, when Barack Obama was in the White House and Republicans (48%) were more likely than Democrats (32%) to express worry. By 2019, with Donald Trump then president, Democrats' concern had reached 70%, compared with 25% of Republicans.

Concern about becoming a victim of a mass shooting is substantially higher among younger than older Americans. Among those aged 18 to 34, 54% are worried, compared with 43% of adults aged 35 to 54 and 30% of those aged 55 and older.

Gun Ownership Stable in U.S.

A steady 43% of Americans report that there is a gun in their household, including 31% who say they personally own a firearm and 12% who say another household member is the gun owner. Since 2000, an average of 30% of Americans have reported personally owning a gun, while 43% have reported having one in their household.

Gun ownership varies considerably by party, gender and age. Republicans (47%) are more than twice as likely as Democrats (20%) to personally own a gun, with independents (29%) falling between the two. Men are also twice as likely as women to own a gun, while adults aged 35 and older are more likely than those aged 18 to 34 to do so. Similar patterns are evident in household gun ownership.

Stay up to date with the latest insights by following @Gallup on X and on Instagram.

Learn more about how the Gallup Poll Social Series works. View complete question responses and trends (PDF download).