A poll conducted by NBC News has recorded the highest level of gun ownership since they began running the survey in 1999.
Over half of the respondents, 52 percent, said that they or someone in their household owns a gun.
When the poll was conducted in 2019, 46 percent of Americans said that they or someone in their home had a firearm. Back in 2013, that number was just 42 percent.
"In the last ten years, we've grown [10 points] in gun ownership. That's a very stunning number," Micah Roberts of Public Opinion Strategies, a Republican polling firm that co-conducted the poll with members of the Democratic polling firm Hart Research, told NBC News.
"By and large, things don't change that dramatically that quickly when it comes to something as fundamental as whether you own a gun," Roberts continued.
The latest survey found that though there is a divide along partisan lines, it is not as dramatic as one may expect.
The poll found that "66% of Republican voters surveyed say that they or someone in their household owns a gun, while just 45% of independents and 41% of Democrats say the same."
There has been a considerable increase in Democrat gun ownership over the last 19 years.
"In 2004, a March NBC News/Wall Street Journal poll found that 57% of Republicans said that they or someone in their household owned a gun, while just 41% of independents and 33% of Democrats said the same," NBC reports.
While gun ownership is the highest among white voters, there has also been an increase in black voters arming themselves in recent years.
NBC reports, "This month, 56% of white voters report that they or someone in their household owns a gun and 41% of Black voters say the same, – a 17-point increase among that group in just four years."
When it comes to gun rights, Americans remain heavily divided.
"Almost half -- 48% -- say they’re more concerned that the government will not do enough to regulate access to firearms, versus 47% who believe the government will go too far in restricting gun rights," the report added.
The NBC News poll was conducted Nov. 10-14 and surveyed 1,000 registered voters. It has a margin of error of plus or minus 3.1 percentage points.
