More people are turning to guns to protect themselves against a growing national crime wave, but they fear that federal agents will come and confiscate them.
In one of two new gun surveys following reports that the Biden administration is drawing up a list of gun owners, most said they are worried that his goal is to grab their weapons at a time when they feel they need them most.
Rasmussen Reports said that 53% believe it likely that the administration will confiscate all guns. Biden has threatened to ban some semi-automatic firearms such as the nation’s top-selling rifle, the AR-15.
Rasmussen said, “Among voters in gun-owning households, 58% believe that if the federal government had a list of gun owners in the United States, it is likely the government would eventually confiscate all guns. That includes 36% who think confiscation would be very likely. Among voters in gun-free households, 46% think it’s likely a government list of gun owners would lead to confiscation, while 44% don’t think confiscation would be likely.”
Gallup, meanwhile, found that 88% of U.S. gun owners have one due to rising crime. That is up from 67% in 2005.
The surveys released Wednesday showed that gun ownership has held steady at about 43%-44%.
“Although U.S. gun ownership has remained relatively stable over the past 20 years, crime protection has surged among gun owners as the reason they own one,” said Gallup.
“The vast majority of gun owners now say they purchased a firearm to protect themselves against crime. While crime protection has been a commonly cited motivation for owning a gun in the past, it was nowhere near as dominant a reason as it is today, and not much more common than other reasons such as target shooting or hunting,” added Gallup.
Politics, and the threat of a Biden gun grab, are also driving sales, according to Justin Anderson, the marketing director of Hyatt Guns, in Charlotte, North Carolina, one of the nation’s biggest outlets.
Anderson told Secrets, “I think sales are being driven by uncertainty — in our leaders, in our economy, and in the future of this country. Fear is always the largest driver of gun sales.”
He said that is why many gun owners voted for former President Donald Trump in 2020, who was endorsed by the National Rifle Association.
“A lot of folks who voted for Trump, myself included, were casting our votes for the future of our rights through the Supreme Court. Twenty years from now, we will look back and realize the three new justices appointed by President Trump were the key to ensuring America remains a free country, free from anarchy, free from communism, and free from the so-called ‘woke’ generation,” he added.
