Americans are divided on whether the average person should be trusted with firearms.
According to a new YouGov survey, 43% of respondents said the average American could be trusted with a gun, while 42% said they could not.
Another 15% of respondents said they were not sure.
"Trust in the average American with a gun has declined since a YouGov survey about guns two years ago, which found that 45% said an average American could be trusted with a gun and 35% disagreed," the pollster noted.
Gun owners were more likely to say that the average person could be trusted with a firearm, at about 72%, according to the survey. Another 17% of gun owners said the average person cannot be trusted with a gun, while 12 percent said they were not sure.
Republicans were also more likely than Democrats to trust the average person with a gun. The survey shows nearly three-quarters of Republicans (74%) said they would trust the average American with a firearm, while just 24% of Democrats and 34% of Independents said the same.
The survey found that 66% of people know someone who owns a gun or own one themselves, and 36% of Americans live in a household with a gun. Republicans (40%) are more likely than Independents (18%) and Democrats (15%) to be gun owners, according to the data.
YouGov pointed out that "gun violence in the U.S. continues to be a pressing issue, with nearly 200 mass shootings and nearly 7,000 deaths in the first five months of 2024."
According to the survey, 44% of Americans believe stricter gun laws would decrease the number of mass shootings, slightly larger than the percentage of Americans (37%) who say it would not change the number of mass shootings. Democrats (74%) are more likely than Independents (41%) and Republicans (16%) to believe stricter laws would decrease the number of mass shootings.