WASHINGTON, DC – A new survey from the Pew Research Center finds that an increasing number of Americans favor of gay marriage.
At the same time, a greater number favor gun ownership rights over gun control. The poll’s authors note that both positions represent landmark shifts in public attitudes, reflecting a “small-l” libertarianism taking shape in the culture.
The survey—conducted by telephone between April 4 and 15, and reflecting the opinions of more than 3,000 nationwide respondents, with a margin of error plus or minus three percent—found that 47 percent of Americans favor marriage equality, and 49 percent believe it’s more important to protect the rights of gun owners than to support gun control laws. While not a majority in either case, those who support these positions outnumber their opponents, with 43 percent against same-sex marriage and 45 percent supporting gun control over gun ownership.
According to Pew, strong opposition to gay marriage—which peaked in December 2004 at 38 percent— generally fluctuated around 30 percent until 2010, when it began to decrease, finally reaching its present 22 percent.
Contrarily, strong support—with an all-time modern low of 8 percent, also in 2004—has ticked upwards until it now equals its opposition with 22 percent.
