Opinion
By Salam Fatohi

Pew Research Service released a Cultural Issues and the 2024 Election report that shows there’s a stark difference in the way those who support more gun control and those who support gun rights see the issue of lawful gun ownership in America and what it means for the 2024 election.

Pew Research Service surveyed 8,709 adults, including 1,166 registered voters, in April on the political values of both President Joe Biden and former President Donald Trump. The survey topics were grouped together as “culture war” or “woke” issues.

Unsurprisingly, supporters of Biden and Trump view guns from nearly polar opposite perspectives. But the data is telling on what voters would expect from another four years of a Biden administration.

Voter Insights

“By overwhelming margins, Joe Biden’s supporters prioritize gun control over gun rights and say gun ownership does more to reduce than increase safety; roughly eight-in-ten Biden supporters (83%) say the increase in guns in the U.S. is at least somewhat bad for society,” the report’s authors wrote in the “Gun attitudes and the 2024 election” section. “By comparable or even somewhat larger margins, Donald Trump’s supporters express opposing views on all three measures.”

That’s not telling the whole story, though. The survey found that among all voters, there was a slight edge, 52 percent, to those voters who believed it is important to protect the rights of Americans who own guns over those who believe there should be increased control over who owns guns, which came in at 47 percent. The stark differences show when the two groups of supporters are broken out. Biden supporters only accounted for 19 percent who believe protecting Second Amendment rights is important compared to 80 percent who want more gun control. Among Trump supporters, 85 percent want Second Amendment rights protected and just 14 percent want more gun control.

That divide was also evident when surveyors asked if gun ownership increases or decreases public safety. Fifty-four percent of survey respondents believe gun ownership contributes to increased public safety, while 45 percent said more gun ownership reduces public safety. Seventy-six percent of Biden supporters believe more guns decreases public safety while 23 percent believe lawful gun ownership makes communities safer. Among Trump supporters, just 13 percent thought more gun ownership makes society more vulnerable, while 86 percent believe more lawfully-owned firearms means safer communities.

When the overarching question of whether more guns are good or bad for society, 52 percent of survey respondents thought it was bad, with just 22 percent agreeing it was good. Among Biden supporters, 83 percent think guns are bad for society with just 5 percent agreeing guns are good. For Trump supporters, 40 percent agree more guns were good for America with just 21 percent who thought more guns are bad.

Digging Deeper

That last set of survey results comes with a caveat, though. There were significant numbers of voters surveyed who answered guns are neither good nor bad. That’s not an anomaly, as many gun owners see firearms as an inanimate tool with no intrinsic moral value one way or the other. In other words, it’s not the gun that’s bad or good, rather it’s the person who uses it for good or evil.

Among all survey respondents, that was 25 percent, and if added to those who answered more lawfully-owned guns are good for America, that brings the total to 47 percent of respondents. Thirteen percent of Biden supporters thought guns were neutral, and if added to those who thought more lawfully-owned guns are good, that total is 18 percent. Thirty-eight percent of Trump supporters are also neutral on the good-or-bad question. Adding those to the “guns are good” answers, that brings the total to 78 percent.

That question, though, didn’t differentiate between lawful and unlawful gun ownership. The survey, though, did ask about crime and policing. A full 61 percent of those polled said the justice system should be tougher on criminals, with only 25 percent saying the justice system is getting it right and 13 percent saying it is too tough on criminals. When it comes to Biden’s supporters, 40 percent agree that the justice system needs to get tougher with criminals. Among Trump supporters, that figure jumps to 81 percent.

Crime is an issue. Given the results of whether guns contribute to or denigrate America, along with the crime answers, it is clear that Americans overall are fed up with criminals being treated softly while their rights to protect themselves with guns are winnowed away to satisfy special interest gun control proponents.

More of This? Voter Survey Says No

The hardened positions by Biden and Trump supporters are hardly surprising. After all, President Biden has been demonizing the firearm industry since he took to the debate stage in 2019 and called firearm manufacturers “the enemy.” He nominated David Chipman, a former gun control lobbyists to become Director of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF), before the U.S. Senate confirmation hearing forced President Biden to withdraw his name from consideration.  He’s installed a former Everytown for Gun Safety gun control lobbyist in The White House. President Biden has used a whole-of-government approach to attack the firearm industry and Second Amendment rights, through “zero-tolerance” policies by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) to revoke or pressure firearm retailers to give up their licenses and livelihoods, using the ATF to abuse the rulemaking process to bypass Congress by reclassifying brace-equipped pistols as short-barreled rifles (SBRs) and subject them to regulation under the National Firearms Act (NFA), or the “Engaged in the Business” rule to implement near-universal background checks among private sellers. This is the same White House administration that illegally spied, and lied about it, on law-abiding gun owners by collecting their private banking data without a warrant and also weaponized the Commerce Department to push an industry-crippling rule to hobble firearm exports to overseas markets.

On top of that, the Biden administration peddles in lies when they tell the American public the disproven claim that firearms are the leading cause of death among children. Despite repeatedly being fact checked, that lie continues to be repeated by President Biden, Vice President Kamala Harris and ATF Director Steven Dettelbach.

Contrast that with President Trump, who told gun owners at NRA’s Annual Meeting, “I promise you this, with me at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue, no one will lay a finger on your firearms — just as took place for four years when I was your president.”

The Pew Research Service survey’s slight edge in favor of gun rights suggest the Biden administration’s support for gun control and nonstop attack on the Second Amendment is shifting the political ground toward valuing gun rights, and potentially, for President Trump. NSSF just reported that 22.3 million people – equal to population of Florida – have become first-time gun owners since 2020. Those new gun owners don’t fit the convenient boxes that gun control supporters would like. These new owners are increasingly diverse, including African Americans and Hispanic Americans and Asian Americans, as well as more women. For these new gun owners, gun rights is now an election issue.

November’s elections are about five months away. While that may be an eternity in politics, voting in many states starts in September. Gun owners will soon make their decisions. President Biden’s supporters will be looking to double down on the attacks on the firearm industry. President Trump’s supporters will be looking to reverse these unprecedented attacks both the firearm industry and Second Amendment rights. That’s why it is imperative to #GUNVOTE®. Learn how to get registered and when and where to vote. Don’t Risk Your Rights.

About The National Shooting Sports Foundation

NSSF is the trade association for the firearm industry. Its mission is to promote, protect and preserve hunting and shooting sports. Formed in 1961, NSSF has a membership of thousands of manufacturers, distributors, firearm retailers, shooting ranges, sportsmen’s organizations, and publishers nationwide. For more information, visit nssf.org