Estimated reading time: 5 minutes
By Larry Keane
New polling on gun control from a leading polling agency could show lagging indicators that Americans aren’t buying what gun control activists are selling. Specifically regarding federal bans on Modern Sporting Rifles (MSRs), or the popular and commonly-owned centerfire semiautomatic rifles gun control activists refer to as so-called “assault weapons,” support has dropped again. That’s at the same time that the survey shows that the vast majority of Americans flat-out reject calls for bans on handguns, something failed presidential candidate Vice President Kamala Harris openly supported in the past.
The change in attitude towards firearms and gun ownership reflected in the most recent Gallup poll on firearms isn’t surprising in the least to those in the firearm industry. We’ve seen a sea change over the past four years, not just among who is purchasing firearms, but also those pursuing extra training and education, as well as their understanding about how different types of firearms operate and the various laws that effect their ability to buy and possess them.
The firearm industry knows the Gallup survey is just the polling catching up to reality within the firearm-owning community.
‘AWB’ Support Declines
President Joe Biden has urged Congress since before he was officially sworn in to reinstate a federal “assault weapons” ban. He’s repeated his near-demand often throughout his four years in The White House. Vice President Kamala Harris, while she herself was running for the top of the ticket in 2019, went a step further and declared she’d use executive action authority to ban so-called “assault weapons” and implement a confiscation scheme. Neither of them were successful. A bill to ban the most-commonly owned semiautomatic rifle barely passed the U.S. House of Representatives in 2022, but stalled in the U.S. Senate after not even all Democrats were on board with the ban.
All through the last four years, however, more Americans than ever before became owners of Modern Sporting Rifles (MSRs) as the popular long gun was purchased in large numbers for a variety of lawful purposes. As more Americans became familiar with what MSRs are – and what they are not – polling has reflected that understanding. Americans don’t buy the gun control hysteria.
Gallup polling taken immediately before the November 5 election showed just 52 percent of American adults support reinstating an “assault weapons” ban. That mark reflected a drop in support for a ban that is lower than the previous two Gallup polls taken and is “significantly lower…than it was in Gallup’s initial reading in 2019 (61%) and is down slightly from 55% in 2022.”
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However, polling from ABC News/Washington Post in 2023 painted a similar picture. That poll showed a majority of Americans opposed adopting a national “assault weapons” ban, a 10-point jump in opposition since the question was last asked in 2019. Only 47 percent of those polled said they support the proposal, the second-lowest level of support measured since the poll began in 1995.
NSSF industry data reveals there are more than 28 million MSRs in circulation today. As Americans from all walks of life purchased MSRs in record numbers for lawful purposes – including more than 22.4 million first-time firearm buyers since 2020 – they understand the demands for reinstating “assault weapons” bans coming from gun control activists for what it is – baseless scare tactics.
Handgun Bans? No Thanks
Gun control was a key plank for Vice President Kamala Harris during her failed presidential run over the past three months. A ban on outright handgun ownership became a significant point of discussion because VP Harris’ track record indicated her staunch support for a handgun ban and her announced ownership of a GLOCK handgun in California raised more questions than it answered.
The background and timeline of the vice president’s GLOCK ownership is worth a study, but it comes down to her owning a handgun under an exemption not available to everyday Californians while supporting an amicus brief in support of D.C. v. Heller, the U.S. Supreme Court’s landmark Second Amendment case. Heller, of course, was a challenge to Washington, D.C.’s, ban on handgun possession. That means the vice president’s opinion was that not only could California ban handgun sales and possession, but that the Second Amendment doesn’t preclude total bans on handgun possession.
What’s the Gallup poll show about Americans’ views on handgun bans? They overwhelmingly don’t support them. Support for a handgun ban is at just 20 percent, near the all-time low, including among Democrats who have swung 16 points against handgun bans from 2023 to this year, going from 49 percent in favor to only 33 percent.
#GUNVOTE® Mattered
The bottom line is that the gun-owning community has never been more diverse and welcoming. Millions of Americans from all races, backgrounds and political leanings purchased firearms since the 2020 election for all sorts of lawful purposes and they made sure to register their voice in support of their Second Amendment right to do so at the ballot box. That included key constituencies that previously regularly supported the Democratic candidate crossed over and supported the candidate who will protect and preserve Constitutional Second Amendment rights.
The Gallup poll is refreshing as it shows a more mainstream outlet reporting on trends that the firearm industry has long been aware of. The Second Amendment is for everyone and the more law-abiding Americans learn about and understand how gun control laws impact them, the less they support them.
Larry Keane is Senior Vice President of Government and Public Affairs and General Counsel for the National Shooting Sports Foundation, the firearms industry trade association.
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