Women View The Gun Control Debate Differently Than Men

One of the most heated debates in Washington right this second, is that of Gun Control. Due to the unfortunate increase in gun violence and mass shootings, now is the time to start making changes in our country’s gun laws.

For a topic such as gun control, it’s necessary for there to be a general consensus on what needs to be done. A divide in viewpoints could seriously impact the decisions being made, and even elections.

It seems as if that may be an issue for this upcoming midterm election. A bi-partisan poll conducted by the Women Donors Network, which is a dynamic community of women philanthropists with shared values, shows that women are in fact thinking of gun violence in a different way than men are.

Because of this, the WDN and the San Francisco Chronical believe that this gender divide could impact the midterm elections in 2014. Pew Research polled men and women to see what this divide could be in January 2013, and the statistics are as follows:

• 39 percent of women versus 60 percent of men find it important to protect rights of Americans to own guns, a 21 point gap.
• 67 percent of women versus 48 percent of men want to see a ban on semi-automatic weapons, a 19 point gap.
• 73 percent of women versus 61 percent of men support creating a federal database to track gun sales, a 12 point gap.
• 93 percent of women favor background checks for all gun sales

The poll also found that issues of violence are often personal for women reflecting experiences in their families and communities. As a result, incidents such as the mass shooting in Newtown Connecticut had more of a profound effect on how women viewed gun violence.

WDN seems to think that this personal connection that women make to gun violence can move more women to vote for these policies, than for any other issue in the 2014 elections. WDN found that women who may not ordinarily vote in a non-presidential year are among those most engages with issues of gun violence.

Interesting. November 2014 is still a ways away, but perhaps this divide could actually benefit our country.

What do you think?

Ally | Elite.

Photo Credit: Getty Images