A sizable majority of Americans support the Supreme Court’s recognition of gun-carry rights.
That’s one of the takeaways from the most recent Marquette University poll, which was released on Friday. The poll found nearly 70 percent of adults approved of the Supreme Court’s decision in New York State Rifle and Pistol Association v. Bruen, which struck down the state’s restrictive gun-carry permitting scheme. The findings represent the highest level of support the Bruen decision has seen since the Court handed it down in June 2022.
“AÂ large majority, 69 percent, favors the 2022 decision that, subject to some restrictions, the Second Amendment protects an individual’s right to carry a handgun for self-defense outside the home,” Kevin Conway, associate director for university communication, wrote in a press release. “The decision is opposed by 31 percent.”
The poll identified a significant intensity gap as well. 40 percent of respondents strongly favored the Bruen decision, while just 14 percent strongly opposed it.
The results suggest Americans are broadly supportive of armed self-defense in public. That could complicate efforts by lawmakers in states whose carry laws were voided by Bruen to introduce broad new restrictions. It could also bolster the hand of gun-rights activists in their efforts to further expand where gun carry is allowed throughout the country.
Americans were actually more likely to approve of the Court’s landmark Bruen decision, which also set up a new history-and-tradition-based judicial test for gun laws, than they were of the Court’s overall performance. Just 43 percent of respondents said they approved of how the High Court has handled its job recently. Just 26 percent said they had a great deal or quite a lot of confidence in the Court.
The Supreme Court’s approval has remained underwater since the end of the 2022 term, even though the major gun decision from that sitting has been popular since the Court announced it.
Still, Americans also agreed with the Court’s recent application of that Bruen test in US v. Rahimi. 76 percent of respondents said the Court was right to uphold the domestic violence restraining order gun ban, while only 24 percent opposed it.
That’s in keeping with expectations from the Marquette poll released before the Court handed down Rahimi. That poll found 53 percent favoring a decision upholding the law and just five percent opposing that outcome, with the rest having no opinion.
On the other hand, most opposed the Court’s decision in Cargill v. Garland. 57 percent of respondents disagreed with the Court’s finding that the ATF exceeded its authority when issuing the bump stock ban. 43 percent supported the decision.
Marquette conducted the poll by contacting 1,005 adults between July 24th and August 1st. It has a margin of error of plus or minus four points.
