The Czech public is cautious about guns across socio-demographic groups. A significant tightening of the conditions for gun ownership is supported by 54% of survey participants, while another 24% indicated “slight tightening” as their preferred option as to what should be done about gun control. The most significant differences in opinion on this issue are among age groups. The biggest opponents of gun ownership are in the 60+ age group, where 66% of respondents are in favour of making the rules much stricter and a further 16% in favour of making them somewhat stricter. Conversely, the most liberal on this issue is the 18-29 age group, where 38% favour significant tightening and 33% favour slight tightening. Significant differences can also be seen when dividing participants by gender: 62% of women are in favour of significant tightening, while for men, the figure stands at 45%. Virtually no one, regardless of age, gender or political stance, expressed a desire for a significant relaxation of gun legislation. In the whole population, only 4% are in favour of relaxing the rules.
Source: STEM, Trendy (“Trends” regular survey) 2024/1, 1057 participants
Source: STEM, Trendy 2024/1, 1057 participants
Source: STEM, Trendy 2024/1, 1057 participants
The data were collected in January 2024, when the Czech parliament debated an amendment to the Weapons Act. For this reason, we also asked about people’s expectations regarding the changes in gun legislation. Although the demand for changes in gun control is evident given the above, there is considerable scepticism about what the amendment would change. 52% of respondents thought there would be only minor and not very important changes to the rules, and 27% thought nothing would change.
Source: STEM, Trendy 2024/1, 1057 participants
Apart from surveying the demand for change, we were also interested in how people view frequently mentioned possibilities of how gun legislation could be tightened. The greatest public support exists for stricter medical examinations, including psychological tests, which 81% of respondents support (the percentage is a sum of the answers “definitely” and “somewhat”). In second place, we see limiting the number of guns an individual can possess for private purposes, supported by 72%. 64% of people would support limiting the number of ammunition an individual can possess for private purposes, and 58% would support limiting the types of guns an individual can possess, e.g. only pistols and hunting guns for hunters would be allowed while other guns would be banned. On the other hand, there is low support for both of the possible radical approaches, i.e. an absolute ban on the possession of weapons for private purposes and a radical relaxation so that everyone could have a gun. Just under 18% of respondents favoured an absolute ban, with just under 8% saying they would “definitely” be in favour and 11% “somewhat” in favour. The situation is similar on the obverse, with less than 18% of respondents in favour of a significantly freed up gun market so that everyone could own guns and defend themselves, with just under 8% saying they would definitely be in favour and 10% somewhat in favour. Around 70% of participants opposed both of the radical measures. The only difference is the proportion of those who were definitely against and somewhat against; while 48% of the respondents were definitely opposed to a wide relaxation, 40% were definitely opposed to a strict ban.
Source: STEM, Trendy 2024/1, 1057 participants
The last topic we were interested in in relation to guns was the proportion of people who own or are considering owning a gun. It turned out that the majority of people in the Czech population do not own a firearm and are not considering acquiring one in the future. 78% of respondents stated they do not own a gun and are not considering acquiring one. On the side of the spectrum, only 2% of the respondents already have a weapon and are considering obtaining another.
Source: STEM, Trendy 2024/1, 1057 participants
The cited research by the STEM Research Institute (www.stem.cz) was conducted on a representative sample of the Czech population aged 18 and older on 18-27 January 2024. A set of 1,057 respondents answered the questions in a combination of online and face-to-face interviews (CAWI+CAPI). The Trendy (“Trends”) research series is funded entirely by STEM and does not depend on sponsorships or partnerships.
