Gun control has lost support since 2000

ATLANTA — Americans have long had a complex relationship with guns. A new study shows that the country’s deep political divide is reflected in attitudes toward gun control.

The Pew survey released Thursday found a sharp drop since 2000 in overall support for gun control despite common ground on some key issues.

For example, when people were asked whether it is more important to protect gun rights or control gun ownership, 51 percent favored gun control and 47 percent favored gun rights. Compare that with responses in 2000, when two-thirds of those surveyed said they supported gun-control measures.

People in the new survey were in broad agreement when asked about specific gun-control measures.

Among all adults, 89 percent supported preventing the mentally ill from buying guns, and 84 percent supported background checks for private sales and at gun shows. Barring gun purchases by people on no-fly lists won support from 83 percent, while 71 percent of adults, including a small majority of gun owners, supported a federal database tracking gun sales.

Republicans have made the most significant shifts on guns, while Democrats have remained consistent in their views, said Kim Parker, Pew’s director of social-trends research. “This reflects that the issue has really become more polarized, more driven by partisan attitudes,” Parker said.

About half of the public said making it more difficult to buy a gun would result in fewer mass shootings, while a little over one-third said it would have no impact.

Most people attribute gun violence to the ease in illegally getting access to a gun, and the public can’t decide whether making it easier to legally buy a gun would lower or raise the crime rate.

Forty-four percent of adults said they know someone who has been shot, and about one-quarter say that someone with a gun has threatened or intimidated them or a family member.