Most gun owners are armed for one reason: safety
- 72% of gun owners said they owned a gun for protection
- 81% of gun owners said they felt safer with a gun in the home
- 61% of all Americans said it is too easy to legally buy a gun
FILE – Firearms are displayed at a gun shop in Salem, Ore., Feb. 19, 2021. A federal judge in Portland, Ore., will hear arguments Monday, June 5, 2023, over the constitutionality of one of the nation’s strictest gun control laws that was approved by voters last year. The law, which includes a permit-to-purchase provision for gun owners, has been challenged in both federal court and state court and the legal battle over Measure 114 is likely to continue no matter the outcome this week. (AP Photo/Andrew Selsky, File)
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(NewsNation) — The majority of U.S. gun owners say they don’t own a gun for hunting or leisure shooting, but in order to protect themselves.
Pew research found 72% of gun owners said they owned a gun for their own protection, far outpacing other reasons for owning a gun like the 32% who owned firearms for hunting, the 30% who said they owned firearms for sport shooting or the 15% who owned them as part of a gun collection. Seven percent said they owned a firearm as part of their job.
Pew found the demographics of gun owners has not changed significantly from previous years, with rural Americans more likely to be armed than suburban or urban ones, and Republican and right-leaning independents more likely to own guns than Democrats or left-leaning independents.
Men are more likely to own guns than women, and white Americans more likely than those of other races. Level of education and age were less significant, with gun owners spread across various age groups and education levels.
The majority of gun owners, 81%, said they felt safer owning a gun, and just 12% said they worried about having a gun in the home. Research studies have shown homes with guns are more likely to experience domestic gun violence, accidental death or suicide.
Non-gun-owning Americans were nearly evenly split on whether or not they could see themselves owning a gun in the future, with 52% saying no and 47% saying yes.
Gun owners or not, 61% of Americans say it’s too easy to legally obtain a gun in the U.S. and 58% say gun laws should be stricter than they currently are.