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Asking whether “guns” are an important issue for Americans is not particularly useful as both those concerned about the right to self-defense and gun control advocates may both answer yes. While a new Economist/YouGov poll (p. 36) from March 24-26, 2024 has guns and civil rights tied at 6% of USA adults saying that it is the most important issue facing the country, a range of other issues (taxes and government spending, abortion, and national security) come in at a very close 5%. The fact that both those concerned about the right to self-defense and gun control advocates will answer “yes” to this question can be seen by the very high rates that various groups with widely differing views on guns answer that it is important.
