Pew: 44 percent of Americans know someone who has been shot

Almost half of Americans know someone who has been shot, according to a survey released Thursday by the Pew Research Group.

The report found that 44 percent of U.S. adults know someone personally who has been shot either accidentally or on purpose. An additional 25 percent said they or their family had been threatened with a gun at least once.

According to the study, there’s broad support among American adults for stricter gun laws. Eighty-nine percent say people with mental illnesses should be banned from buying guns, and 83 percent support banning guns for those on federal watchlists.

In addition, 84 percent support requiring background checks for private gun sales and firearms shows. Seventy-one percent support a federal registry to track gun sales, while 68 percent support a ban on assault weapons.

Fifty percent of Americans said gun violence was “a very big problem,” while an additional 33 percent said it was a “moderately big problem.” Those numbers are deeply divided between gun owners and people who don’t own firearms. Just 33 percent of gun owners see gun violence as “a very big problem,” while that number spikes to 59 percent among non-owners.

Overall, the public is deeply divided over the effect of guns on crime. About 35 percent said more gun ownership would lead to higher crime rates, while 33 percent said it would lead to less crime. Thirty-two percent said it would have little effect.

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Some of the sharpest divides in the poll were among racial lines. Seventy-three percent of black respondents saw gun violence as a major issue in their communities, compared to just 44 percent of white respondents.

Pew’s study also found that a majority of Americans have had experience with guns at least in some point during their lives.

Seventy-two percent of Americans reported they had shot a gun at least once, including 55 percent of respondents who said they didn’t own a gun. Thirty percent said they owned a gun, while another 36 percent say they are considering owning a firearm in the future.

Almost half of Americans, 48 percent, said they grew up with guns in the house. Fifty-nine percent said at least some of their friends currently owned guns.

Pew’s survey polled 3,930 U.S. adults, including 1,269 gun owners, between March 13 to 27 and April 4 to 18, 2017. It has a margin of error of +/- 2.8 percentage points.