Pew Poll: 60 Percent Say Gun Violence ‘Very Big Problem’

Sixty percent of Americans say gun violence is a “very big problem,” and more than 62% say they expect the level of gun violence to get worse in the next five years, according to a Pew Research Center poll released Wednesday.

The poll, conducted June 5-11 among 5,115 adults, also found that:

• 49% say gun ownership does more to reduce safety by giving too many people access to firearms and increasing misuse, while the same amount say gun ownership increases safety by allowing law-abiding citizens to protect themselves.
• 58% say gun laws should be more strict than they are today, compared with 53% in 2021, 60% in 2019, and 57% in 2018; comparatively, 26% say gun laws are about right, while 15% say they should be less strict than they are today.
• 66% support banning high-capacity magazines, while 64% support banning assault-style weapons.
• 88% favor preventing mentally ill people from buying guns, while 79% support increasing the minimum age for buying guns to 21 years old.
• 79% of Republicans and independents who lean toward the Republican Party say that gun ownership increases safety, while a nearly identical share of Democrats and Democratic leaners (78%) say it decreases safety.
• Since 2021, the share of Republicans who say violent crime is a major problem has increased from 52% to 64%. There has been a comparable shift among Democrats, from 44% to 52%.

The poll’s margin of error was ±1.7 points.