Survey Shows that a Large Percentage of People are Influenced to Buy a Gun Because of Mass Shootings

A law firm in Brier, Washington, conducted with 400 Americans across the United States using Pollfish. The sample is small, but it still provides some indication that about half the people are concerned enough about the danger from these types of attacks to be influenced into buying a gun. Similarly, the survey found that slightly more than half the people believed that “personal safety” was the “role of guns in society,” with less than a third saying it was for hunting or sport.

https://crimeresearch.org/2024/12/only-19-of-american-voters-think-that-passing-more-gun-control-will-reduce-crime/The survey asks people whether gun control laws should be stricter, stay the same, or become less strict, and most respondents choose “stricter.” However, our earlier survey shows that this framing misleads people into thinking that enforcing gun control laws is the best way to reduce crime. When the survey instead gives respondents the option of having police focus on arresting violent, repeat offenders, the share of people favoring stricter gun control laws drops dramatically.