Should Gun Laws Be More or Less Strict (October 2019)

Should Gun Laws Be More or Less Strict (October 2019)

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    Respondents were asked, "In general, do you think gun control laws should be made more strict, less strict, or left as they are now?"
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categoryTotal
More strict51%
Less strict13%
Left as they are now28%
Don't know/No opinion8%
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    Respondents were asked, "In general, do you think gun control laws should be made more strict, less strict, or left as they are now?"
    Measurement of Party ID for this figure is based on two questions. First, respondents were asked whether they consider themselves to be a Democrats, Republicans, independents, other, or not sure. Those who responded that they are independents or "other" were then asked if they lean toward either the Democrats or Republicans. If they indicated that they lean toward one party or the other, they are considered Democrats or Republicans for the purposes of this figure. Only "pure" independents or members of a third party who indicate that they have no preference for Democrats vis-a-vis Republicans are considered independents . Respondents who answered that they are "not sure" for either of the two aforementioned questions are not incorporated into this figure.
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categoryDemocratIndependentRepublican
More strict81%45%24%
Less strict2%10%24%
Left as they are now11%33%43%
Don't know/No opinion6%12%9%
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    Respondents were asked, "In general, do you think gun control laws should be made more strict, less strict, or left as they are now?"
    Party identification is calculated according to the PID7 variable, a seven point scale of party identification.
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categoryLean DemocratNot very strong DemocratStrong Democrat
More strict80%72%86%
Less strict2%2%2%
Left as they are now10%19%7%
Don't know/No opinion7%7%5%
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    Respondents were asked, "In general, do you think gun control laws should be made more strict, less strict, or left as they are now?"
    Party identification is calculated according to the PID7 variable, a seven point scale of party identification.
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categoryLean RepublicanNot very strong RepublicanStrong Republican
More strict20%36%21%
Less strict32%12%24%
Left as they are now37%41%46%
Don't know/No opinion10%11%8%
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    Respondents were asked, "In general, do you think gun control laws should be made more strict, less strict, or left as they are now?"
    Ideology is measured on a scale of 1-7, with 1 corresponding to "extremely liberal", 7 corresponding to "extremely conservative, and 4 corresponding to "in the middle." For the purposes of this table, respondents who placed themselves at or between points 1 and 3 on the scale are considered "liberal," respondents who placed themselves at point 4 on the scale are considered "moderate," and respondents who placed themselves at or between points 5 and 7 on the scale are considered conservative.
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categoryLiberalsModeratesConservatives
More strict86%53%30%
Less strict3%6%23%
Left as they are now7%28%39%
Don't know/No opinion4%13%8%
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    Respondents were asked, "In general, do you think gun control laws should be made more strict, less strict, or left as they are now?"
    The ideology measure is based on respondent self-placement in response to the following question: "On a scale from 1 to 7, where 1 is extremely liberal, 7 is extremely conservative, and 4 is exactly in the middle, where would you place yourself?" The placements are further classified such that 1 is extremely liberal, 2 is very liberal, 3 is somewhat liberal, 4 is moderate, 5 is somewhat conservative, 6 is very conservative, and 7 is extremely conservative.
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categoryLeaning liberalSomewhat liberalExtremely liberal
More strict85%87%85%
Less strict0%4%6%
Left as they are now12%5%4%
Don't know/No opinion3%5%5%
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    Respondents were asked, "In general, do you think gun control laws should be made more strict, less strict, or left as they are now?"
    The ideology measure is based on respondent self-placement in response to the following question: "On a scale from 1 to 7, where 1 is extremely liberal, 7 is extremely conservative, and 4 is exactly in the middle, where would you place yourself?" The placements are further classified such that 1 is extremely liberal, 2 is very liberal, 3 is somewhat liberal, 4 is moderate, 5 is somewhat conservative, 6 is very conservative, and 7 is extremely conservative.
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categoryLeaning conservativeSomewhat conservativeExtremely conservative
More strict44%24%28%
Less strict18%20%28%
Left as they are now28%44%40%
Don't know/No opinion10%12%4%
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    Respondents were asked, "In general, do you think gun control laws should be made more strict, less strict, or left as they are now?"
    Race is calculated according to the race variable.
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categoryWhiteBlackHispanic
More strict43%73%56%
Less strict16%4%10%
Left as they are now35%10%23%
Don't know/No opinion6%14%11%
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    Respondents were asked, "In general, do you think gun control laws should be made more strict, less strict, or left as they are now?"
    Gender is calculated according to the GENDER variable.
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categoryMaleFemale
More strict43%57%
Less strict19%8%
Left as they are now32%24%
Don't know/No opinion6%11%
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    Respondents were asked, "In general, do you think gun control laws should be made more strict, less strict, or left as they are now?"
    Community is based on the following question, " Would you say that you live in an urban, suburban, or rural community?"
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categoryUrbanSuburbanRural
More strict62%51%32%
Less strict10%12%22%
Left as they are now21%28%39%
Don't know/No opinion8%9%7%
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    Respondents were asked, "In general, do you think gun control laws should be made more strict, less strict, or left as they are now?"
    Age is calculated according to the AGEG variable.
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category18-2930-4445-6465+
More strict60%54%48%42%
Less strict11%12%15%14%
Left as they are now21%21%31%37%
Don't know/No opinion7%13%6%7%
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    Respondents were asked, "In general, do you think gun control laws should be made more strict, less strict, or left as they are now?"
    Education is calculated according to the EDUC variable.
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categoryNo high schoolHigh school graduateSome college2-year4-yearPost-grad
More strict36%45%49%61%53%57%
Less strict19%13%12%10%13%19%
Left as they are now26%32%31%23%26%19%
Don't know/No opinion19%10%7%5%8%5%
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    Respondents were asked, "In general, do you think gun control laws should be made more strict, less strict, or left as they are now?" Religiosity is calculated according to the IMPORT variable.
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categoryExtremely importantSomewhat importantNot very importantNot at all important
More strict46%50%51%64%
Less strict14%12%10%14%
Left as they are now30%28%32%18%
Don't know/No opinion10%10%7%4%
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    Respondents were asked, "In general, do you think gun control laws should be made more strict, less strict, or left as they are now?" Fundamentalism is calculated according to the LITERAL variable.
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categoryThe Bible is the word of God, to be taken literallyThe Bible is the word of God, not to be taken literallyThe Bible is a book written by men
More strict44%47%69%
Less strict15%14%12%
Left as they are now32%34%17%
Don't know/No opinion9%6%3%

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