Poll: Americans Buying Guns for Protection, Not Crime

A majority of Americans believe self-defense is the main reason most people purchase a gun, a new Rasmussen Reports poll reveals.

The telephone survey of 1,000 adults across the country found:

• 66 percent believe self-defense is why people purchase firearms
• 5 percent believe it's to commit a criminal act
• 1 percent believe it's for job-related purposes
• 22 percent say it's for "some other reason."

The poll also found law-abiding Americans are buying guns at a record pace, with nearly one-out-of-four Americans, 23 percent, say they or someone in their immediate family has bought a gun in the past year.

Another 44 percent of Americans think it is too easy to buy a gun in the United States. Only 11 percent say it's too difficult, while 36 percent consider the level of difficulty about right.

Along party lines, 64 percent of Democrats polled believe it is too easy to buy a gun, with only 28 percent of Republicans and 36 percent of those not affiliated with either major political party agreeing.

The survey, conducted on April 11 to 12, has a margin of sampling error is +/- 3 percentage points with a 95 percent level of confidence.

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