What percentage of independents personally own firearms compared to Democrats and Republicans in recent US surveys?
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Executive summary
Recent U.S. surveys consistently show that self-identified Republicans are more likely to own guns than independents, who in turn are more likely to own guns than Democrats, but the precise percentages vary widely by survey question (personal ownership vs. household ownership), sample, and timing; headline household figures from NBC News in late 2023 put Republicans at 66%, independents at 45% and Democrats at 41% [1], while other polls and analyses of personal ownership report lower and more varied numbers [2] [3] [4].
1. Recent headline numbers: what major polls report
A November 2023 NBC News survey of registered voters reported that 66% of Republican voters said they or someone in their household owns a gun, compared with 45% of independents and 41% of Democrats [1]; nationally representative estimates of personal ownership (not household) from Pew, Gallup and aggregated analyses generally put overall personal ownership near one-third of adults (~30–34%), but break down by party in different ways across sources [2] [5].
2. Party-specific snapshots: Republicans, independents, Democrats
Gallup’s pooled 2019–2024 series highlights sharp differences by gender within parties — for example, Republican men are by far the most likely subgroup to personally own a firearm (about 60%), while independent men were reported at roughly 39% and Democratic men about 29% in the same aggregation [4]; separate reporting on personal ownership by party gives lower point estimates for Democrats — one compilation cites roughly 19% Democrats owning firearms across 2019–2024 respondents [3] — underscoring that party-level personal ownership estimates depend on the poll and whether it measures “you personally” or “someone in your household” [3] [4].
3. Why the numbers vary: question wording, household vs. personal, and timing
Surveys differ in critical ways that change the headline percentages: some ask whether the respondent personally owns a gun, others ask whether anyone in the household owns one, and some pool years or collapse categories to boost sample sizes; for example, NBC’s 66/45/41 figures refer to household ownership among registered voters [1], while Gallup’s multi-year grouping reports personal ownership by party-and-gender subgroups [4], and aggregated research syntheses place overall personal ownership near 32–34% nationally [2] [5].
4. Interpreting the gap: what convergence and divergence tell reporters
Across these sources the pattern is stable: Republicans show the highest ownership rates, Democrats the lowest, and independents sit in between, but the magnitude of that gap depends on method — pooled Gallup subgroup analysis underscores large gender- and party-interactions (Republican men ~60%, independent men ~39%, Democratic men ~29%) [4], while household measures compress differences because household ownership can reflect other adults’ guns, not the respondent’s [1]; analysts therefore caution that differing survey choices produce different “percentages” that are all defensible but not directly interchangeable [4] [1] [2].
5. Limits of the available reporting and alternative readings
The available sources document the partisan ranking but do not deliver a single definitive contemporary percentage for “independents personally own firearms” comparable across every poll; published work notes possible underreporting, social desirability bias, and variation by question and sampling frame [6] [4], and some aggregations (ammo.com, Pew summaries) offer national personal-ownership baselines (~31–34%) without a standardized party split that matches the household figures [2] [5]. Reporters should therefore present ranges and specify whether a figure refers to personal ownership or household ownership rather than treating any one number as the final answer [4] [1] [2].
Bottom line
Depending on the poll and the question, independents report personal or household gun ownership at levels generally between Democrats and Republicans: household figures from NBC (Nov. 2023) show independents at 45% vs. Republicans 66% and Democrats 41% [1], Gallup’s pooled personal-ownership subgroup data shows independent men at about 39% versus Republican men at ~60% and Democratic men at ~29% [4], and national personal-ownership baselines from Pew/Gallup-style aggregates sit near one-third of adults overall [2] [5]. Any citation of a single percentage should be qualified by the survey’s wording and whether it measures the respondent’s personal ownership or someone else in the household.