Boom: Majority now lives in gun-owning households

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In an NBC poll that made headlines for confirming former President Donald Trump’s expanding lead in the 2024 election over President Joe Biden, 52% of respondents said they live in a gun-owning household.

Second Amendment lobbyists said growth in gun ownership, especially among women and minorities in the past three years, could help swing some states into Trump’s column next fall.

“The increased number of voters who now own guns voting to protect their right to do so is going to have a major impact on the 2024 elections,” said Alan Gottlieb, the president of the Citizens Committee for the Right to Keep and Bear Arms.

He also told Secrets on Wednesday, “A shift of just a few points in the key battleground states and districts will result in a major defeat for the gun prohibition lobby.”

Gun groups have been watching as more and more people buy firearms. Sales have been over a million a month for 51 consecutive months, according to estimates by the National Shooting Sports Foundation.

The foundation, which is the top industry representative, said the surge has been driven by liberal politicians, including Biden, who are trying to ban guns; Democratic-run states pushing gun control and higher taxes on firearms; and surging violent crime in cities.

What’s more, the violence in Israel last month drove many to stock up on semi-automatic handguns and rifles, a growing sign that support for gun control is shrinking.

“There has never been a more clear-cut case of the need for personal protection than Oct. 7 attack, and Americans have reacted quickly,” said Justin Anderson, the marketing director for Hyatt Guns of Charlotte, North Carolina. “There was a significant sales bubble that formed just after videos of the attack made the rounds, and that bubble continues to grow. We are seeing a spike in sales of concealed carry handguns, as well as tactical shotguns and AR-15s, very similar to what happened during COVID but on a smaller scale. We expect this bubble to continue to grow, along with our regular bump in sales going into the holidays.”

The NBC poll, released Sunday, found that 66% of Republican voters said they or someone in the household owns a gun. Among independents, it is 45%, and even for Democrats, it is 41%.

Black voters rival Democrats, with 41% living in gun-owning homes, a 17-point increase over the past four years, according to the NBC data.

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“Gun ownership is rising across the national landscape,” Gottlieb said.

“We are encouraged by what appears to be a cultural shift in America,” he added. “More people, of all backgrounds, are taking personal responsibility for their safety and that of their families. We appear to be witnessing a significant change in how people look at gun ownership. We have all seen that the gun control and ban agenda has been an abject failure. Crime rates are up in many places. Restrictive gun laws have not disarmed criminals, only the law-abiding.”