Bar charts show percentages of each party answering yes.

"Do you have any guns in your home?" Dems, 25%; GOP, 49%.
(Highest percentages were in the Midwest and South. Fifty percent were 'rural'. Forty-two percent were white; 16%, black.

Under 'Views by Party":

"More important to protect the right to own guns." Dems, 20%; GOP, 69%.

"More important to control ownership." Dems, 72%; GOP, 27%.

"Agree to ban semi-automatic guns." Dems, 51%; GOP, 38%.

"Agree to ban high-capacity ammunition clips." Dems, 62%; GOP, 46%.

I had no idea there was such a split by party!

This means nothing if you mean to apply it to the general population of the whole country. If you do, what is the point?

What people were asked?
Where?
What percentage of people who refuse to participate in surveys own guns?
What percentage of people contacted refused to participate?
What percentage of people answer facetiously?
How were the people selected/contacted?

Republicans are like another species to me. Never will I ever understand them.

As for this one:
"More important to control ownership." Dems, 72%; GOP, 27%.

I'm reminded of the cliche "Gun control is less about guns and more about control".

The gaffe was explained away, that the candidate was misquoting a movie line, which was: "He pulls a knife, you pull a gun."

My point is that even a Democratic presidential candidate recognized that guns are part of our culture, and even though he was joking (badly), he did advocate gun use as a solution for resolution of a dispute.

Interesting poll, but I don't think assigning labels to individuals based on their political preferences is a good idea.

By contrast, personal observation and experience are considered "anecdoctal" by experts in the field--anecdotes are unscientific and prove nothing.

Just because a poll disagrees with some posters' beliefs does NOT mean the poll is somehow invalid. So let's take seriously some of the findings of the poll by the reputable polling group called PEW:

***two-thirds (65%) think that allowing citizens to own assault weapons makes the country more dangerous.

***more favor banning bullets designed to explode or penetrate bullet-proof vests (56%) and high capacity ammunition clips (53%).

***About seven-in-ten (69%) Republicans say protecting gun rights is more important, while about the same proportion of Democrats (72%) say gun control is more important. Independents are divided

***Women prioritize controlling ownership over gun rights by a 24-point margin, while men prioritize gun rights by a 10-point margin.

***Those with more education (post-graduate degrees) stand out from those with less education in their support for gun control, with 66% prioritizing gun control

***Young people (18-29 year olds) continue to support gun control over gun rights (55% vs. 36%), . . .older Americans (ages 65+) have shifted over the last several months; today they prioritize gun control over gun rights (54% vs. 34%),

***Northeasterners . . . supporting gun control over gun rights by about a two-to-one margin (65% vs. 29%), while those in other regions are more evenly split on this question.

***Majorities of men, whites and Republicans say gun ownership does more to protect people from becoming victims of crime

I, for one, find those results interesting and think we should seriously think about them rather than just relying on our personal anecdotal experiences--which may or may not be reflective of the rest of America.

Kate

The fact that more hold one opinion than the number holding a differing opinion is of no significant consequence in and of itself, and does not validate the more popular opinion.

Polls don't mean anything except to the people that need to feel bolstered by others agreeing with them.

Sheeple? ;)

With the Pew survey, I don't think they do themselves any favors by going with self-identified party affiliation - see how the discussion here went off on this tangent?

Missing this: By about three-to-one, more say allowing citizens to own assault weapons makes the country more dangerous (65%) rather than safer (21%).

[Obama] has fallen dramatically in [the polls in] Ohio these last weeks before the election....Obama had fallen in the polls.
Look at the polls of Ohio in September and look at them now.

...and...

Polls don't mean anything except to the people that need to feel bolstered by others agreeing with them.

Sheeple? ;)

Pot, kettle, and all that.

***Young people (18-29 year olds) continue to support gun control over gun rights (55% vs. 36%), . . .older Americans (ages 65+) have shifted over the last several months; today they prioritize gun control over gun rights (54% vs. 34%)

very interesting.

Perhaps like many other things (gay rights, for example), the tide will turn as the older generation dies off and the younger generation comes of age.

And this:
***Northeasterners . . . supporting gun control over gun rights by about a two-to-one margin (65% vs. 29%), while those in other regions are more evenly split on this question.

is one of the many reasons I haven't found another region of the US I could live.

No, some of us care about what our fellow Americans think about important issues.

The important point is that if a compilation of polls, surveys etc tend to weigh one way , then it's likely so.

Best poll of all though is the election. No doubt about it, most Americans support the Democratic President and his policies.

Women, 18-29 year olds, 65+ year olds, and post-graduate educated all favor gun control.

I agree with what's been said above - one poll can be iffy, but several different polls tending to agree can provide a pretty good picture of the popular opinion.

Pew is a reputable polling company.

And yet, a few short months ago, when Pew was saying Romney had it all wrapped up, all these same people were talking about how "Pew is so named for a reason-- THEY STINK", or other similar derrogatory comments.

ARe you trying to confuse things, bill? As the quote above shows, PEW was NOT saying Romney had it all wrapped up. Instead, PEW was showing Obama winning shortly before the actual Nov. 6 election. So why would liberals be derogatory about PEW?

It was Romney's private polls that told him he had it all wrapped up. That was why he didn't believe the public polls that had it very close but slightly favoring Obama.

At any rate, I never have said PEW "stinks"--and now that I checked their polls right before the election, I see that as I noted above, PEW was right about who was winning. The only "error" they made was that they under-estimated by how much Obama would win--though they were closer to the correct number than many of the other polling places.

I stick by my statement. PEW is a reputable polling group with a track record to back up its reputable reputation.

And as I also said above, just because its poll results disagree with your personal opinion does not mean its poll results are wrong.

Kate

Sheeple? ;)

Invasion of the body snatchers.

-Ron-

As I have mentioned several time before, Rasmussen was embarrassingly wrong on the 2010 California gubernatorial and senate races -- as in inexcusable wide margins between its numbers and the actual election results.