Americans say the Constitution grants individuals the right to own guns, but most also say they favor stricter gun-control laws.
(PhotoDisc)
America: It's Our Right to Bear Arms
ABCNEWS.com Poll Finds Most Support Individuals' Right to Own Guns
Analysis By Daniel Merkle
May 14
— Americans overwhelmingly agree with the Justice Department's new position that the Second Amendment guarantees the right of citizens to own guns. But most also favor some restrictions on that right.
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After hearing the Second Amendment verbatim, 73 percent in an ABCNEWS.com poll said it guarantees the right to individual gun ownership. Twenty percent said, instead, that it only guarantees the right of states to maintain militias — the government's longstanding position until the Justice Department reversed it in a U.S. Supreme Court brief last week.
Sampling, data collection and tabulation
for this poll were done by TNS Intersearch.
Most do support some restrictions on this right, with 57 percent of Americans favoring "stricter gun control laws." That's about the same as it was last year, but 10 points below its peak. And "strong" support for gun control, at 39 percent, is down seven points since last year, to its lowest in 10 years. (The government's new position, likewise, says gun ownership should be "subject to reasonable restrictions.")
Previous polling by ABCNEWS has found that larger majorities support specific measures such as background checks at gun shows, mandatory trigger locks, handgun registration, banning assault weapons and licensing handgun owners. But nearly six in 10 have opposed a nationwide ban on the sale of handguns, except to law enforcement officers.
Gun control hasn't ranked as a top-tier issue. Few think new laws would substantially reduce violent crime, or would be more effective than better enforcement of current laws.
Stricter Gun Control Laws
Date of Poll
Favor
Favor "Strongly"
May 12, 2002
57%
39
Jan. 15, 2001
59
46
May 10, 2000
67
50
Tighter Controls Favored
Support for stricter gun control rises to just under seven in 10 women, Democrats, nonwhites, and Northeasterners. It even reaches a slim majority, 51 percent, of those who say the Second Amendment guarantees gun ownership.
Large majorities in all demographic groups agree with the Justice Department's new view on gun rights, peaking among men, whites, Republicans and residents of the South and Midwest. Even 65 percent of those who support tougher gun laws agree, as do 66 percent of women and Democrats.
The government's new position states that the Second Amendment "more broadly protects the rights of individuals, including persons who are not members of any militia or engage in active service or training, to possess and bear their own firearms, subject to reasonable restrictions designed to prevent possession by unfit persons or to restrict the possession of types of firearms that are particularly suited to criminal use."
The amendment itself states: "A well-regulated militia, being necessary to the security of a free state, the right of the people to keep and bear arms shall not be infringed."
Gun Rights and Gun Control
Constitution grants right to guns
Favor stricter gun control
All
73%
57
Men
80
44
Women
66
69
Age 18-34
68
62
Age 65+
69
51
Whites
76
56
Non-whites
63
68
Democrats
66
69
Independents
75
64
Republicans
82
42
Northwest
65
68
Midwest
77
54
South
77
56
West
68
54
Methodology
This ABCNEWS.com survey was conducted by telephone May 8-12, among a random national sample of 1,028 adults. The results have a three-point error margin. Sampling, data collection and tabulation was conducted by TNS Intersearch of Horsham, Pa.
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