by Wallace White
More Republican women on average now own firearms than Democratic men, according to a Gallup poll released Thursday.
From 2019 to 2024, an estimated 33 percent of Republican women owned a firearm compared to only 29 percent of Democratic men, according to Gallup’s six-year groupings of ownership data. Compared to years 2013 to 2018, Republican women saw a 14-point spike in ownership.
The gender gap in firearm ownership overall remains in place, with 43 percent of men on average owning a firearm regardless of party affiliation from 2019 to 2024 compared to just 20 percent of women, according to Gallup. However, the gender gap in ownership is four points smaller in recent years compared to the gap observed from 2013 to 2018.
The overall gap in gun ownership between political parties has only widened, going from a 16 point to a 28 point gap from 2007 to 2024, Gallup found.
Personal protection is the main reason Americans cite for owning a firearm, according to 2023 Pew Research data. Additionally, 81 percent of gun owners say they feel safer when they own a gun.
A 2021 study from Georgetown University found that there are approximately 1.67 million incidents of defensive handgun use per year.
Of Democrats who do not own a firearm, 60 percent say they could never see themselves owning one in the future, while 86 percent of Democrat respondents say it is too easy to obtain a gun legally in the U.S., according to Pew Research.
Additionally, support for handgun bans nearly hit an all-time low, with Democrats softening the most on the issue. Gun policy more broadly was an important issue during the 2024 election, with 53 percent of President-elect Donald Trump supporters and 59 percent of Vice President Kamala Harris supporters calling the issue “very important” to how they voted, according to a September Pew Research poll.
The poll surveyed 1,000 adults by cellphone and landline, with gender-based subgroups having a 2 percent margin for error while national groups have a 1 percent margin of error, according to Gallup.
– – –
Wallace White is a reporter at Daily Caller News Foundation.
