Assault Weapons and High-Capacity Magazines

Key Point Summary

American public opinion on assault-weapon and high-capacity magazine bans tilts positive, although attitudes are sensitive to question wording, conclusions based on available survey data from 2022 and 2023.

In general, Americans have responded to questions about banning assault-style weapons or high-capacity magazines with more support than opposition. Support is generally in majority territory, most frequently in the 50% or low 60% range, with only a few exceptions.

Survey questions vary significantly in how this category of weapons is defined, with varied use of the terms "assault weapons", "semiautomatic weapons", "AR-15 rifles", "assault-style weapons", "assault rifles and semiautomatic weapons", "weapons capable of semi-automatic fire", "military style assault weapons", and others. There are also other differences in how these questions are phrased.

The exact impact of this variation in how these types of guns are defined is impossible to determine without controlled, experimental testing. But, regardless of precise wording, Americans appear to express more support than opposition for restrictions or bans on the sale of such weapons.

High-capacity magazine bans also receive majority support in most surveys.

By contrast, handgun bans are unpopular and should not be treated as interchangeable with bans on assault-style weapons.

Bottom line: Americans generally lean toward banning assault-style weapons and high-capacity magazines, but support is measured at lower levels than it is for other gun policy-related actions such as background checks or targeted restrictions. Results are sensitive to wording, framing, and context. Handgun bans, by contrast, receive clear majority opposition.

Availability of Data and Confidence in Conclusions

This assessment draws on 25 unique questions from 19 nationally representative surveys conducted between May 2022 and November 2024, with a combined sample size of 26,144. This is the largest evidence base in the report. At the same time, only a few questions on banning assault weapons or high-capacity magazines were asked in 2024, and none in 2025 or 2026. The existing data are sufficient to show that public opinion generally leans toward banning assault-style weapons and high-capacity magazines as of 2024, but with significant variation based on question wording and framing. This variation constrains confidence in any single point estimate. Evidence on handgun bans is much more consistent and clearly shows majority opposition.

Overall Confidence: FAIR.

Policy Implications

Policymakers can credibly point to an American public that tilts in favor of restricting assault-style weapons and high-capacity magazines. But this support is not as broad or settled as it is for background checks or restrictions targeting high-risk individuals. Thus, advocates of restrictions on these types of weapons will face a public that includes significant, although usually minority, opposition.

High-capacity magazine restrictions may be easier to defend politically than broader weapon-ban language. By contrast, handgun bans remain clearly outside the mainstream. The strong and growing opposition to handgun bans suggests that proposals perceived as broad gun confiscation or sweeping prohibitions would face substantial public opposition.

Detailed Discussion

Americans generally are more likely to support than oppose policies banning assault-style weapons and high-capacity magazines. The margins of support are relatively small, and support varies depending on how the proposal is described in question wording.

One issue is the analysis of public opinion on this topic is how survey researchers describe the guns in question, with references across surveys variously to "AR-15 rifles", "semi-automatic guns known as assault weapons", "military style assault weapons", "assault weapons", "rifles capable of semi-automatic fire such as the AR-15", "assault style weapons", "semi-automatic weapons", and "AR-15 rifles and similar semiautomatic weapons".

As noted throughout this report, without controlled experimental testing, it is not possible to measure the precise impact of these variations in gun descriptions on the public's attitudes.

With that said, it can be generalized that the concept of assault-weapon bans (variously described) usually receives majority or plurality support, but often by modest margins.

  • Questions using the term "assault weapons" found 50% support and 45% opposition among national adults in 2022 [1], 49% support and 45% opposition among national adults later that year [2], and 52% support and 44% opposition among registered voters in 2023. [3]
  • One 2024 poll of registered voters found the public exactly split, with 47% supporting and 47% opposing a nationwide assault weapons ban. [4]
  • Among registered voters in 2022, 53% favored a nationwide assault weapons ban and 45% opposed it. [5]
  • A question about banning the manufacture, possession, and sale of semiautomatic assault rifles found 55% support in 2022 [6] and 52% support in 2024. [7]
  • In 2022, 63% of registered voters favored banning "assault rifles and semiautomatic weapons," [8] and 61% of registered voters favored the same policy in 2023. [9] A 2023 question using "assault-style weapons" found 65% of national adults in favor. [10]

A separate line of questions has asked about banning high-capacity magazine. As is the case for questions asking about the weapons per se, such bans on high-capacity magazines also appear to receive majority support in most surveys, with a fairly large range from 55% on the one end of the range spectrum to 70% on the other – variation reflecting widely differing ways in which the concept was described.

  • 55% of national adults were in favor in one 2022 survey of banning "the sale and possession of high-capacity magazines that can contain more than 10 rounds of ammunition [11], and 70% of registered voters favored "banning high-capacity ammunition clips that can shoot dozens of bullets without stopping to reload" in another. [12] In 2023, one question found 56% of registered voters in support of banning magazines that hold more than 10 bullets [13], while another found 66% of national adults in favor of banning high-capacity ammunition magazines holding more than 10 rounds. [14]

As a basis for comparison, Americans are decidedly against bans on another type of weapon: handguns. In both 2022 and 2023, only 27% of Americans said there should be a law banning handgun possession, while 73% said there should not. [15, 16] In 2024, that figure fell to 20%, with 79% saying there should not. [17]

Bottom line: Public opinion leans toward banning assault-style weapons and high-capacity magazines, but the size of that majority varies, in part related to how the concept is described to them.

Impact of Question Wording and Other Survey Factors

Support for assault-weapon bans varies widely, from about 47% to 65%, across surveys. The wide variation coincides with variation in the way in which the weapons involved are described. A similar pattern occurs in attitudes towards banning high-capacity ammunition. Without controlled experimental design testing, it is difficult to assess the precise impact of this variation in question wording on the responses.

There is observational evidence that support for bans appears to be higher when questions refer specifically to "assault-style weapons," "assault rifles and semiautomatic weapons," or "AR-15 style rifles," and lower when the wording is broader or simply refers to an "assault weapons ban." But variation in aspects of a survey beyond the wording per se make such conclusions highly tentative.

It does appear, additionally, that questions that present a ban as part of a larger package to reduce gun violence may also produce somewhat higher support than stand-alone questions.

Attitudes on assault-weapon bans display the usual sensitivity to the explicit provision of a "don't know" response category. Several questions included a midpoint ("Neither favor nor oppose") and produced an increased "don't know" response, but with the same majority in favor of banning the sale of "AR-15 rifles and similar semiautomatic weapons" as seen in other questions without the explicit midpoint. [18, 19, 20]

Political context may matter as well. A July 2024 poll taken shortly after the attempted assassination of former President Trump by a gunman using an AR-15 found the public exactly divided on banning such weapons, 47% to 47%.

Trends Over Time

The overall pattern of support for assault weapon bans is one of stability, with support usually exceeding opposition, albeit with noticeable variation depending on wording and political context. No consistent trend appears over time, especially for questions with identical wording. Support for assault-weapon restrictions remained relatively stable from 2022 through 2024, with modest fluctuations tied to wording and context. Support for handgun bans, by contrast, moved downward over the same period.

  • Exactly half (50%) of national adults supported a general assault weapons ban in 2022 [1], followed by a poll showing a very similar 49% of national adults in support later that year [2], and a still similar 52% of registered voters in support in 2023 [3]. (In July 2024, a poll taken after the attempted assassination of former President Trump found registered voters exactly split, 47% to 47%. [4])
  • Support for banning "AR-15 rifles and similar semiautomatic weapons" was 50% in May 2022 [18], rose to 58% in August 2022 [19], and remained at 57% in August 2023 [20]. A separate question about banning the manufacture, possession, and sale of semiautomatic assault rifles found 55% support in 2022 [6] and 52% in 2024. [7]
  • Across repeated measures, support for assault-weapon restrictions generally falls from the high 40s to the high 50s, depending on wording and context, with no discernible trends in either direction.
  • Handgun bans show a different trend. The share saying there should be a law banning handgun possession was 27% in 2022 [15], remained 27% in 2023 [16], and fell to 20% in 2024 [17], while the share saying there should not rose from 73% to 79%.

Citations

  1. Quinnipiac University Polling Institute. (2022). Nearly 3 Out Of 4 Support Raising Legal Age To Buy Any Gun, Quinnipiac University National Poll Finds; Support For Assault Weapons Ban Hits A Low. Fielded 6/3/22-6/6/22. Accessed via Roper Center for Public Opinion Research.
  2. Quinnipiac University Polling Institute. (2022). Biden Approval Hits New Low Amid Public Discontent With Both Parties, Quinnipiac University National Poll Finds; Nearly Half Of Americans Worry About Being Mass Shooting Victim. Fielded 7/14/22-7/16/22. Accessed via Roper Center for Public Opinion Research.
  3. Quinnipiac University Polling Institute. (2023). 84% Of Voters Concerned The U.S. Will Be Drawn Into Military Conflict In The Middle East, Quinnipiac University National Poll Finds; Concern About Prejudice Against Jewish People In U.S. Hits Record High. Fielded 10/26/23-10/30/23. Accessed via Roper Center for Public Opinion Research.
  4. Quinnipiac University Polling Institute. (2024). 2024 Race: Trump vs. Harris Too Close To Call, Trump Slightly Ahead In 6-Way Race. Fielded 7/19/24-7/21/24. Accessed via Roper Center for Public Opinion Research.
  5. Wall Street Journal/Impact Research/Fabrizio Lee. (2022). Nationwide Poll Dec 2022. Fielded 12/3/22-12/7/22.
  6. Gallup Organization. (2022). Public Pressure for Gun Legislation Up After Shootings. Fielded 6/1/22-6/20/22. Accessed via Roper Center for Public Opinion Research.
  7. Gallup Organization. (2024). Majorities Still Back Stricter Gun Laws, Assault Weapons Ban. Fielded 10/1/24-10/12/24. Accessed via Roper Center for Public Opinion Research.
  8. Fox News/Beacon Research/Shaw & Co. Research. (2022). More voters put trust in Republicans to handle inflation, crime. Fielded 6/10/22-6/13/22. Accessed via Roper Center for Public Opinion Research.
  9. Fox News/Beacon Research/Shaw & Co. Research. (2023). Two-thirds say abortion pill should be legal. Fielded 4/21/23-4/24/23. Accessed via Roper Center for Public Opinion Research.
  10. Pew Research Center/Ipsos. (2023). Gun Violence Widely Viewed as a Major – and Growing – National Problem. Fielded 6/5/23-6/11/23. Accessed via Roper Center for Public Opinion Research.
  11. Gallup Organization. (2022). Public Pressure for Gun Legislation Up After Shootings. Fielded 6/1/22-6/20/22. Accessed via Roper Center for Public Opinion Research.
  12. Fox News/Beacon Research/Shaw & Co. Research. (2022). More voters put trust in Republicans to handle inflation, crime. Fielded 6/10/22-6/13/22. Accessed via Roper Center for Public Opinion Research.
  13. Quinnipiac University Polling Institute. (2023). 84% Of Voters Concerned The U.S. Will Be Drawn Into Military Conflict In The Middle East, Quinnipiac University National Poll Finds; Concern About Prejudice Against Jewish People In U.S. Hits Record High. Fielded 10/26/23-10/30/23. Accessed via Roper Center for Public Opinion Research.
  14. Pew Research Center/Ipsos. (2023). Gun Violence Widely Viewed as a Major – and Growing – National Problem. Fielded 6/5/23-6/11/23. Accessed via Roper Center for Public Opinion Research.
  15. Gallup Organization. (2022). Public Pressure for Gun Legislation Up After Shootings. Fielded 6/1/22-6/20/22. Accessed via Roper Center for Public Opinion Research.
  16. Gallup Organization. (2023). Majority in U.S. Continues to Favor Stricter Gun Laws. Fielded 10/2/23-10/23/23. Accessed via Roper Center for Public Opinion Research.
  17. Gallup Organization. (2024). Majorities Still Back Stricter Gun Laws, Assault Weapons Ban. Fielded 10/1/24-10/12/24. Accessed via Roper Center for Public Opinion Research.
  18. AP-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research. (2022). Many back strict gun laws, but opposition tends to be louder. Fielded 5/12/22-5/16/22. Accessed via Roper Center for Public Opinion Research.
  19. Associated Press/AP-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research. (2022). About 1 in 5 Americans say gun violence has touched their lives and even more fear being a victim. Fielded 7/28/22-8/1/22. Accessed via Roper Center for Public Opinion Research.
  20. Associated Press/AP-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research. (2023). GOP support for gun restrictions slips a year after Congress passed firearms law. Fielded 8/10/23-8/14/23. Accessed via Roper Center for Public Opinion Research.

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