More than half of voters in the United States (52%) say they or someone living in their home owns a gun, the highest number recorded by an NBC News national poll since the survey first presented the question in 1999.
"In the last 10 years, we've grown [10 points] in gun ownership. That's a very stunning number," said Micah Roberts of Public Opinion Strategies, a Republican polling firm that conducted the poll for NBC News/The Wall Street Journal.
"By and large, things don't change that dramatically that quickly when it comes to something as fundamental as whether you own a gun," Roberts said.
The numbers have been climbing over the years. The share of people owning guns was 42% in February 2013 and 46% in 2019.
The poll found that gun owners fall along partisan lines, as it has for several years, but the numbers also have gone up in each party:
- 66% of Republicans surveyed said they or someone in their home owns a gun, compared to 57% in 2024.
- 41% of Democrats said there is a gun owner in their home, compared to 33% in 2004.
- 45% of independents said there is a gun owner, compared to 41% in 2004.
In addition, more white voters than Black or Latino voters own guns, the poll showed, but ownership has gone up among voters: 56% of white voters said there is a gun owner in their home, compared to 53% in 2019; and 41% of Black voters said there is a gun owner, compared to 24% in 2019.
The poll also found voters' attitudes on gun rights were almost equally split, with 48% saying they are more concerned the government won't do enough to regulate firearms, and 47% saying they think the government will go too far.
The poll was conducted on Nov. 10-14 of 1,000 registered voters and carried a margin of error of plus/minus 3.1 percentage points.
Sandy Fitzgerald ✉
Sandy Fitzgerald has more than three decades in journalism and serves as a general assignment writer for Newsmax covering news, media, and politics.