Overwhelming majority backs age limit of 21 years to buy AR-15-style rifle: poll

Three-quarters of adult Americans support the idea that the minimum age for an individual to purchase an AR-15-style rifle should be 21 years old, according to a new Survey Monkey poll. 

The poll, published on Thursday, found that 75 percent of adult respondents agree that the minimum age to buy an AR-15-style rifle should be 21, while 65 percent of teenage respondents agree with the same sentiment. 

Fifteen percent of adult respondents said they oppose the motion to raise the age limit on individuals purchasing AR-15-style weapons. 

Thirty-four percent of teenage respondents said they worry a lot about being a victim of a mass shooting, while 24 percent of those surveyed said they don’t worry about being a victim, according to the poll. 

When asked the same question, 22 percent of adult respondents said in the poll that they worry a lot about being a mass shooting victim, while 36 percent of respondents said they don’t worry about being a victim. 

Forty-seven percent of respondents who identify as Asian American said they worry bout being victims of a mass shooting, followed by 39 percent of Black respondents and 36 percent of Hispanic respondents who said the same, according to the poll. 

The poll comes as the U.S. has seen a recent string of mass shootings in the past few weeks, with incidents happening in Uvalde, Texas; Buffalo, N.Y.; and Tulsa, Okla. 

The House on Wednesday passed a sweeping gun violence prevention package, the Protecting Our Kids Act, in a 223-204 vote.

A bipartisan group of senators is working on creating gun reform legislation in response to the recent string of mass shootings. 

Fifty-nine percent of teenage respondents said that they have participated in an active shooter drill, which is up 8 percentage points from 2018.

The latest Survey Monkey poll was conducted from May 25 to June 2 and had a total of 22,252 respondents.