A pollster noted Tuesday that some Americans’ support for the Second Amendment and gun control are not mutually exclusive, citing a recent Newsy/Ipsos survey.
“I think the most important finding is that Americans’ support for the Second Amendment and their support for gun control measures are not mutually exclusive, and that’s particularly the case with young people,” Ipsos research director Mallory Newall told Hill.TV’s Joe Concha on “What America’s Thinking.”
“Millennial gun owners have pretty complex views when it comes to guns. They, like most Americans, are supportive of the Second Amendment generally, supportive of people’s right to own guns,” she continued.
“At the same time, a majority of millennial gun owners believe that the U.S. would be safer with gun control measures in place. So basically, according to younger people that own guns, they recognize that owning a gun is a responsibility,” she said. “They show that you can have these somewhat opposing views on guns at the same time.”
The Ipsos survey, which was released late last month, found that 61 percent of millennials between the ages of 18 and 34 years old believed the U.S. would be safer with stricter gun control laws.
Meanwhile, 28 percent of millennials in the survey said they were gun owners and of those 43 percent said they carry a gun on them relatively often.
Among Gen Xers ages 35-54, 25 percent are gun owners, and 21 percent of gun-owning baby boomers said they also carried a gun on them relatively often.
The findings come after many young people and millennials were galvanized to take action on gun control in the aftermath of the deadly shooting at Marjorie Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Fla., earlier this year.
— Julia Manchester
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