More than 7 in 10 Utah voters say they would support a requirement that gun buyers be 21 years of age to purchase a firearm.
The new Utah Political Trends survey from UtahPolicy.com and Y2 Analytics finds that 48% of voters would “strongly” support the idea, while another 23% say they would “somewhat” support the regulation.
20% would be opposed, while 9% say they had no strong opinion either way.
Federal law already says individuals must be 21 to purchase a handgun from a licensed dealer, but 81-year-olds can purchase long guns, which includes semiautomatic rifles. If the seller is a private party, an 18-year-old can buy a handgun, and there is no minimum age to buy a long gun.
The shooter in the Parkland Florida massacre was 19-years-old when he legally purchased an AR-15 to murder 14 classmates and three others. President Donald Trump called for an increase in the age to buy a gun to 21 following the shooting, but nothing ever came of it.
Utah law prohibits the sale of handguns or long guns to anyone under the age of 18 unless a parent or guardian accompany them.
There’s a massive gender gap in our results with women feeling much more favorable toward raising the age for all gun sales to 21. 85% of women say they would favor raising the age, including 59% who “strongly’ favor increasing the age. Just 60% of men say they would like to see the age raised, while 31% are opposed.
Republicans feel less favorably toward raising the age to buy a gun than their Democratic counterparts.
- 56% of self-described “strong” Republicans favor raising the age to buy guns to 21.
- 75% of moderate Republicans favor increasing the age requirements. 59% of independents who lean Republican also favor changing age requirements.
- 69% of true independents and 86% of independents who lean Democratic would favor requiring gun buyers be 21 years old.
- 82% of moderate Democrats and 91% of “strong” Democrats would favor raising age requirements.
Y2 Analytics conducted the Utah Political Trends survey among 1,044 registered Utah voters from August 22 to September 2, 2019, with a margin of error +/- 3.1%
You can read about the polling methodology used here.
