POLL: National Support for Gun Control Plummets Amid 2020 Coronavirus, Crime Surge, Race Riots

Richard Moorhead

Aug 8, 2020

FILE – In this April 10, 2013 file photo, craftsman Veetek Witkowski holds a newly assembled AR-15 rifle at the Stag Arms company in New Britain, Conn. A ruling released Friday, April 6, 2018, by a federal judge in Boston, dismissed a lawsuit challenging Massachusetts’ ban on assault weapons and large-capacity magazines, stating that assault weapons are beyond the scope of the Second Amendment right to “bear arms.” (AP Photo/Charles Krupa, File)

A new poll from Rasmussen Reports reveals that nationwide support for gun control has plummeted during 2020, with only 52% of Americans describing their support for “stricter gun control laws” this year. An identical poll in 2019 revealed that 64% of Americans supported stricter gun control in 2019, with 12% changing their position this year.

The Rasmussen poll also reveals that Americans who were already gun owners have armed themselves in increasing fashion this year. A massive 27% of Americans who already have guns in their house have bought at least one new one in the last six months, showing that the nation’s existing population of gun owners has become even more resolute in their support of the Second Amendment.

The chaotic events of 2020 have proved sufficient to fuel what many have identified as the greatest “panic buy” of firearms and ammunition in American history, with sales records being routinely crushed on a monthly basis by US gun buyers. Concerns largely related to coronavirus, nationwide race riots, and an increase in violent crime have led in great part to millions of first-time gun owners in the country, with women and citizens of liberal states such as California executing their rights to gun ownership in a manner never previously seen.

Major firearm and ammunition retailers continue to regularly sell out of their inventory, unable to meet the massive demand for guns. Production halts in gun and ammo manufacturing have also played a crucial role in eroding inventories, with coronavirus halting the supply chain for metals such as copper.

More than 1,000 Americans across the country were surveyed for the Rasmussen poll.

Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden has consistently reiterated his support for strict gun control measures, advocating for an outright ban of so-called “assault weapons” owned by tens of millions of Americans.