Public Taking More Conservative View on Second Amendment

The matter of gun control is moving to the right. More and more Americans favor the conservative view, that the second amendment gives them freedom to own a gun. Gun ownership is growing in popularity.

Attitudes on gun control are more conservative this year than last, mostly with men than women. Nearly as many people believe gun ownership rights to be important at 45% than to control it at 49%. Last year 58% believed control over guns was important as opposed 37% protecting gun rights. Women by themselves have a different view, with 60% of them believing it is more important to control guns compared with 30% placing emphasis on protection of gun ownership. It is only in the East Coast that controlling guns has greater priority and there has been no change of opinion. Other regions of the country have moved at least 7 points towards gun ownership being important, indicating a growing movement toward the conservative view on guns. People who own guns are more protective of gun ownership than those who don’t, which might be expected. A third of Americans, that includes 42% of men and 25% of women, maintain they have a gun that includes either rifle or pistol in the house. In June of 2008 the Supreme Court made its ruling on the Second Amendment. Gun owners had hoped the Court would vote in favor of the right to own guns. It did, a first on the matter of gun ownership, underlining the right to own guns for both self defense and hunt. In the meantime the Brady Campaign to End Gun Violence continues to weigh in on the matter of guns, listing the various states in order of rank with respect to gun control measures. Louisiana, for example, ranks near the bottom, at #48, in gun control, having virtually no limits on gun ownership. Louisiana has no limits on ownership of assault rifles; California, which has the strongest gun control laws, has specific limitations on assault rifles as well as child safety laws with respect to gun ownership. Gun ownership may be thought of as a significant right in the United States, but the matter of controlling their use in terms of special types of guns or child safety measures, differ remarkably, but this wasn’t covered in the Pew Forum research nor discussed specifically by the Supreme Court. One wonders if these details entered into the discussion, how much of a difference it might make in the outcomes.