Handgun ban hit a new low as polls suggest that Americans are not interested in having stricter gun control measures across the country.
A new Gallup poll stated that there has been a visible dip in the number of people voting for stricter measures to control gun violence across America. One of the major reasons is the soaring gun violence incidents as well as the spike in sales of ammunition and increasing crime rate during the coronavirus pandemic.
According to the poll, only 19% of Americans support a complete ban on handguns in the United States of America. This 19% doesn’t include police and other law enforcement individuals. This is the lowest number of people recorded by Gallup since 2014.
There hasn’t been an increase in the support of handguns but a visible decline has raised alarm with the authorities. The reasons are varied from political differences, to racism in the country. The derailed economy, which paved the way for theft and other crimes in the country might be another reason for less support for the handgun ban.
According to the poll, 40% of the Democrats voted in favor of a handgun ban whereas only 6% of Republicans and 14% of Independents’ shared the same ideology. A very slim majority of Americans still want stricter measures over gun control and a complete ban on handguns across the United States of America.
According to reports, the year 2020 was the deadliest year witnessed by the country in terms of gun violence in more than 3 decades. Violent crime rose to an alarming stage for the very first time in the past 5 years.
Gun sales also saw an all-time high during the coronavirus pandemic when more than 23 million were sold in 2020 alone. The sales did see a dip in 2021 but they still have been more than the pre-pandemic days.
This increase in gun sales is one of the major reasons behind the crime surge during the coronavirus pandemic. According to Gallup, about 31% of Americans own a gun and out of the majority states that they have it to protect themselves against crime.
