The latest Harris Poll shows that, while a majority of the public favors stricter gun control laws, gun control is unlikely to become a major issue in the 2004 presidential election.
According to the nationwide Harris Poll of 2,408 adults surveyed between May 10 and 17, 2004, a modest plurality thinks President George Bush would do a better job than Senator John Kerry on the issue of gun control. Harris analysts suggest that these results indicate that gun control is not an issue which is influencing voters in their choice of presidential candidates.


The main findings of the survey are:

A modest 52% majority favors stricter gun control, with 22% wanting less strict control and 20% wanting no change.

A slightly larger 57% majority favors stricter laws relating to the control of handguns, with 18% favoring less strict laws and 19% wanting no change.

By 29% to 25% a modest plurality thinks President George Bush would be better on the gun control issue than Senator John Kerry, but 22% see no difference, and 24% are not sure.

Small and equal proportions (23%) prefer a Republican-controlled and a Democratically-controlled Congress on the gun control issue. Most people see no difference (31%) or are not sure (24%).
Republicans and Democrats hold very different views on gun control. A 71% to 11% majority of Democrats favors stricter gun control, whereas Republicans are split 35% to 35%. A 65% to 7% majority of Republicans think President Bush would handle the issue better than Senator Kerry, while a 45% to 6% plurality of Democrats believes the opposite.