A new poll is shedding light on how Americans’ perception of Second Amendment rights might be changing in response to the violence and unrest that has engulfed many major cities.
A full 90 percent of Americans who purchased a firearm in the last four months feel “more safe,” and 22 percent of Americans who already owned a firearm have purchased another since May, according to a survey of likely voters by Rasmussen Reports.
What’s more, the survey found that 43 percent of American households own a firearm, and 39 percent of Democrats live in a household with a gun. This overall household gun ownership data is consistent with a 2019 poll by Gallup, but the same poll also indicated that only 28 percent of Democrats lived in a household with a gun that year – an 11 percent increase.
Alan Gottlieb, the chairman for the Citizens Committee for the Right to Keep and Bear Arms, noted the apparent rise in the number of Democrats in gun-owning households.
“Perhaps the most important revelation in this survey,” Gottlieb said, “is that 39 percent of Democrats own guns, which means Joe Biden and Kamala Harris are alienating a huge bloc of potential voters with their extremist gun control agenda less than a month before the November election.”
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As local governments around the country force their law enforcement officers to stand down in the face of violent riots, many Americans are feeling an increasing concern about their personal safety. Another Rasmussen poll found that 68 percent of likely U.S. voters are concerned that deadly attacks on the police will lead to a shortage of police officers and reduce public safety where they live, with 44% who are “Very Concerned.”
Those Americans who have decided to take responsibility for their personal safety by purchasing a firearm feel safer in the wake of the unrest.
“Why should this surprise anybody,” Gottlieb wondered. “We’ve been treated to months of images on the nightly news showing cities under siege, businesses being vandalized, looted and even burned. People have been killed, more have been injured including scores of police officers, and all we hear from protesters are demands for cuts to police departments, while radical city councils work overtime to appease the mob.”
“Who in their right mind wouldn’t take steps to make their home and family safer?” he questioned.
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It remains to be seen whether this momentary surge in gun ownership will translate to long-term support for gun rights, but there are indications that a sea change may be occurring.
The recent Rasmussen poll found that minority gun-owning households are more likely than white households to have added a gun since late May, and the National Shooting Sports Foundation reports that over 5 million Americans have purchased a firearm for the first time.
“The last six months have taught millions of people the importance of having a constitutional right to own a firearm,” Gottlieb observed. “They’ve learned how restrictive and pointless some gun control laws can be. No wonder people are buying guns. They’re praying for the best, but preparing for the worst.”
I know a few Dems that own guns and I can’t make sense of why they vote democrat and they can’t tell me other than they say they always have! Unbelievable !!!!
Hopefully those newbies who exercised their right to keep and bear have realized that the democrat left has covertly undermining the Second Ammendment at all levels of ownership. The ease to obtain a firearm isn’t that easy or straightforward as they would have you believe. To restrict a free society is to surrender all of your rights. First, disarm the public.
39% of demonrats own guns? Hypocrites. That should be 0. Political party affiliation should be a question on the background check. “Are you, or do you vote for demonicrats?” Yes? No gun for you.
I guess more of them are joining Antifa and arming hip?