--- title: Guns Home Safety: Six in Ten Americans Say Guns Improve Home Safety description: More than 60% of Americans say having a gun in the home makes them safer, according to a new Gallup report. canonical: https://time.com/3572478/americans-guns-safety/ author: Justin Worland article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2014-11-07T17:08:17.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-02-21T11:18:33.431Z article:section: U.S. og:title: Guns Home Safety: Six in Ten Americans Say Guns Improve Home Safety og:description: More than 60% of Americans say having a gun in the home makes them safer, according to a new Gallup report. og:url: https://time.com/3572478/americans-guns-safety/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltaff9e0e59a551a7a/698767b88e06016d0645871e/168115380.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 675 og:image:alt: NRA Gathers In Houston For 2013 Annual Meeting og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Guns Home Safety: Six in Ten Americans Say Guns Improve Home Safety twitter:description: More than 60% of Americans say having a gun in the home makes them safer, according to a new Gallup report. twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltaff9e0e59a551a7a/698767b88e06016d0645871e/168115380.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Poll Finds 6 in 10 Americans Believe Guns Improve Home Safety  by [Justin Worland](/author/justin-worland/)  ## Justin Worland Senior Correspondent Nov 7, 2014 5:08 PM CUT  An attendee wears a 2nd amendment shirt while inspecting an assault rifle during the 2013 NRA Annual Meeting and Exhibits at the George R. Brown Convention Center on May 5, 2013 in Houston, Texas. An attendee wears a 2nd amendment shirt while inspecting an assault rifle during the 2013 NRA Annual Meeting and Exhibits at the George R. Brown Convention Center on May 5, 2013 in Houston, Texas.Justin Sullivan—Getty Images  by [Justin Worland](/author/justin-worland/)  ## Justin Worland Senior Correspondent Nov 7, 2014 5:08 PM CUT More than 60% of Americans say having a gun in the home makes them safer, according to a new Gallup [report](http://www.gallup.com/poll/179213/six-americans-say-guns-homes-safer.aspx "undefined"). That number represents a two-fold increase from 2000, when only 30% of Americans said they felt a gun improved safety. The responses to the poll diverged greatly along political and geographical lines. Republicans were twice as likely as Democrats to say guns made them safer. Nearly 70% of people in the South say that guns make their homes safer, compared with just under 60% in the West and East. While a majority of people may believe in keeping a gun for safety reasons, only 42% actually do. That figure has been fairly consistent over the last decade. ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/3572478/americans-guns-safety/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/3572478/americans-guns-safety/"},"headline":"Poll Finds 6 in 10 Americans Believe Guns Improve Home Safety","datePublished":"2014-11-07T17:08:17.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-21T11:18:33.431Z","description":"The number represents a twofold increase from 2000","url":"https://time.com/3572478/americans-guns-safety/","keywords":["Guns","Crime","Gallup","safety"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltaff9e0e59a551a7a/698767b88e06016d0645871e/168115380.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Justin Worland","jobTitle":"Senior Correspondent","url":"https://time.com/author/justin-worland/"}],"articleSection":"U.S.","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltaff9e0e59a551a7a/698767b88e06016d0645871e/168115380.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"NRA Gathers In Houston For 2013 Annual Meeting","caption":"NRA Gathers In Houston For 2013 Annual Meeting","creditText":"Justin Sullivan—Getty Images","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/us/","name":"U.S."}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/guns/","name":"Guns"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/3572478/americans-guns-safety/","name":"Poll Finds 6 in 10 Americans Believe Guns Improve Home Safety"}}]}] ```