Public remains closely divided on controlling guns and protecting gun rights % saying it is more important to % saying it is more important to protect the right of Americans to OWN guns
Opinions about whether it is more important to control gun ownership or protect gun rights have changed little in recent years. Overall, 53% of Americans say it is more important to control gun ownership, while 47% say it is more important to protect the right of Americans to own guns.
Views on overall priorities for gun policies have long been divided along partisan lines, but these differences have widened considerably over the past decade. In 2010, President Barack Obama’s second year in office, Republicans were about twice as likely as Democrats to say gun rights were more important than gun control (65% vs. 33%). In the current survey, Republicans are nearly four times as likely as Democrats to say gun rights are more important than gun control (80% vs. 21%).
Public remains closely divided on controlling guns and protecting gun rights  | % saying it is more important to  | % saying it is more important to protect  | the right of Americans to OWN guns  | 80  | Rep/Lean Rep  | Control gun  | ownership  | 56  | 54  | 53  | 49  | 47  | 45  | 46  | 38  | 42  | 29  | 27  | 21  | 29  | 28  | Protect the right of  | 22  | 20  | Americans to own guns  | Dem/ Lean Dem  | I''0 100 '04 100 '08 10 '12 '14 '16  | 19  | I'vo 102 1'04 100 '08 I'10 12 '14 16  | '19  | Notes: Share of respondents who didn't offer an answer not shown. 2019 data from Pew Research Center's American Trends  | Panel; prior data from telephone surveys  | Source: Survey of U.S. adults conducted Sept. 3-15, 2019  | PEW RESEARCH CENTER 