More than 80% of Americans want to slightly increase controls on purchasing and the ability to carry firearms, but the country remains very divided on the issue, despite the fact that 44% of citizens claim to know personally someone who has Received a bullet shot.
According to a survey released today by the Pew Study Center and developed between April and March, half of Americans rate armed violence as a very big problem in their country, but that perception is very divided between those who own weapons and those who do not, And between Republicans and Democrats.
The biggest point of consensus lies in a number of possible limitations on the purchase and possession of weapons that have so far been unsuccessful in the US Congress, in part because of the powerful National Rifle Association (NRA).
89% of respondents want measures to prevent people with mental illness from buying weapons; While 84% support that there are background checks for gun buyers at fairs and private sellers, now exempt.
In addition, 83% support prohibiting the sale of arms to those who join government suspicious activity lists or people who are banned from flying commercial airlines.
Other ideas also give rise to a majority support, although more divided between those who have and do not have weapons: to create a federal database to track arms sales, backed by 71%; Banning assault weapons (supported by 68%), and veto the cartridges with high capacity (by 65%).
When the specific measures are left behind and the question is generally asked about the possibility of reinforcing the arms legislation, support is less: 52% of respondents said that laws should be stricter, while 30% Which are good as they are and 18% bet to relax them.
Seventy-two percent of Americans have fired a gun in their lives, and 48 percent grew up in a house where they had guns, while 59 percent had friends who own guns, according to the survey.
But only 30% of Americans say they have a gun, while more than 30% say they do not own it and do not think they will do so for the rest of their lives.
Among those with weapons, however, the passion is strong: 66% say they own several, and 73% say they do not imagine they have none at any point in their lives, while 74% say that property is “Essential” for your personal sense of freedom.
23% of Americans say that someone has used a weapon to threaten or intimidate them or their family, a more common experience for blacks (among which the percentage rises to 32%) and Hispanics (24%) who For whites (20%).
The survey was conducted in April and March to a sample of 3,930 Americans, including 1,269 gun owners, and has a margin of error of plus or minus 2.8 percentage points.
