Since 2000, the percentage of Americans who believe that gun ownership makes their homes safer has nearly doubled, according to a Gallup poll released Friday.
A mere 35 percent of Americans believed having a gun in the house was an added safety measure in 2000, while the majority (50 percent) thought it made households more dangerous. Now the tables have completely turned. Today, six in 10 Americans back owning a gun for safety, while only 30 percent believe it is dangerous.
What’s more, members of every political party are warming to the idea of gun ownership.
Republicans show the largest growth (37-percentage points since 2000) followed closely by Independents (29-point increase) and lastly Democrats (13-point growth).
Curiously, despite the sharp turn in ideology, the average number of Americans who own a gun (42 percent) has hardly wavered over the past 14 years. Perhaps this will change as the benefits of the Second Amendment are more widely acknowledged.