Support For Assault Rifle Ban Low

Last month, Gallup, a popular research firm, revealed the latest findings concerning the ban on semi-automatic weapons known as assault rifles. Support for the ban of assault rifles is significantly lower than it’s been in quite some time.

This may not be much of a surprise to those of us who know that assault rifles are not the cause of violence across American. However, there is something about these findings that is interesting to understand.

There is a correlation with the support for assault rifle bans and trust in the government. It’s a negative correlation in that people tend to have less trust in the government when they have more support for an assault rifle ban.

This makes sense, since the government has been pushing for assault rifle bans for quite some time. With regulations being placed on gun owners, it hasn’t kept new ones from joining. Out of the individuals who took the Gallop poll, 29% admitted to being gun owners. The problem is that not everyone will admit they own a gun. Some want to keep it quiet, so they are not victimized, while others simply do not want anyone to know. They believe it’s a private affair that does not need to be divulged. In other surveys, gun ownership has increased significantly for minorities and women. The number of gun carry permits and gun sales have soared because of it.

How does the increase in gun usage and ownership relate to the lack of support for an assault rifles ban? It’s quite simple to understand. When more people are using guns, there are more people who are knowledgeable about them. They understand that it’s not the guns that kill, but the people behind the guns that kill. In addition, guns can prevent violence as perpetrators are fearful someone may be carrying. As more people spread the word and make others more comfortable about guns, there will be less support for banning them.

As we move into the New Year, let’s be sure to continue educating and learning about guns and their place in all of our lives. It’s the only way we’ll be able to get to place where owning guns won’t be such a heated debate, so the government can focus on what really plagues the nation.