Most Americans Think You Need to Have a Gun Today in Case You Are Attacked by Criminals

Gun control advocates keep trying to convince Americans that they don’t need a gun for protection. Indeed, they are trying to convince them that they shouldn’t have guns for protection. A new Harvard CAP/Harris Poll shows their message is having trouble getting through to people. While 63% of Americans think you need to have a gun today in case criminals attack you, 37% think owning a gun is unnecessary to protect people. The political left is also running into trouble convincing people that we need laxer penalties against crime. While 83% of Americans think shoplifting laws should be more strictly enforced, 17% think it is better to have laxer enforcement.

Other survey questions also show support for enforcing laws against criminals. By small margins, Americans believe that the Department of Justice is too focused on political offenses and that Antifa is a bigger threat than white supremacy.

Finally, Americans, by a 42%-to-27% margin, think that Trump has a better position on reducing crime than Democrats.