Americans remain divided on gun control as national worry over violence rises: Pew

NEW YORK, June 29 (Xinhua) -- As gun-related death rates continue to rise each year in the United States, a new Pew Research study found that while views about gun ownership and gun policy remain starkly divided along party lines, Americans across the political spectrum increasingly see gun violence and violent crime as issues of national concern, reported Politico on Wednesday.

Seventy-nine percent of Republicans and Republican-leaning independents surveyed said they believe that gun ownership increases safety; nearly the same percentage of Democrats and Democratic-leaning independents said the opposite, according to the report.

"Democrats and Republicans agree on little when it comes to gun ownership and gun policies," noted the report. "Only one policy proposal, restrictions on gun purchases for people with mental illnesses, received bipartisan support in the Pew study."

Despite these differences, 60 percent of Americans surveyed said they believe gun violence is a "very big" national issue, up 7 percentage points from 2018. Americans in both parties are also increasingly concerned about violent crime -- 59 percent of Americans see violent crime as a "very big" national issue, up seven percentage points from 2018, according to the report.

"Over 60 percent of Americans said they believe that gun violence will increase in the next five years; just seven percent believe it will decrease during that time period," it added.