Michael Ciemnoczolowski, a lifelong Democrat, is among this new wave of firearm purchasers. Living in Iowa City, Iowa, Ciemnoczolowski told The Wall Street Journal that he bought a gun for the first time in 2024, largely due to growing anxieties surrounding street crime, supposed right-wing extremism, and the unpredictable state of the world.

“Domestic politics have grown increasingly acrimonious,” he said. 

This trend isn't isolated, as surveys and gun groups indicate an uptick in gun ownership among liberals, particularly minorities and progressives.

Jennifer Hubbert, an anthropology professor at Lewis & Clark College, researched this new demographic of gun owners. “It’s a group of people who five years ago would never have considered buying a gun,” she said.

Historically, gun ownership among Democratic voters was more common – especially in rural areas. As gun rights became more of a key issue for Republicans and gun control for Democrats, gun ownership among liberals waned in the 1990s.

Now, the tide appears to be turning.

A 2022 survey from NORC at the University of Chicago found that 29 percent of Democrats or Democrat-leaning respondents indicated they have a gun in their home, up from 22 percent in 2010. For Republicans, gun ownership was higher, with 55 percent reporting having a firearm at home in 2022. But the most striking detail is that since 2020, more than half of new Democratic gun buyers were first-time owners, according to a survey by the Johns Hopkins Center for Gun Violence Solutions cited by the Wall Street Journal report.

Various factors have contributed to the rise in gun ownership among liberals. These include concerns over the nation’s volatile political environment. The report cites increasing activity of Neo-Nazi groups, which has sparked fears in black Americans and other demographics.

 “Gun dealers saw the largest increase in Black Americans buying guns compared with any other racial group in 2023,” the report noted. Even further, women accounted for nearly half of new gun buyers between 2019 and 2021.

Tom Nguyen, founder of L.A. Progressive Shooters, started his gun training group during the George Floyd riots of 2020. Now a certified firearms instructor, Nguyen said, “People were hungering for a space that was not this hyper-aggressive, male-dominated, toxic gun world.” His group caters to a growing number of liberal gun owners looking to educate themselves in firearm usage.

It might seem counterintuitive, but this is certainly a positive sign, especially for the gun community.

For starters, the trend has the potential to create a more diverse gun culture. Traditionally, gun ownership has been associated with right-leaning white men – despite the long and storied history of gun ownership in the black community.

As more Democratic voters – particularly minorities, join the ranks of gun owners, it could break down barriers and open up the conversation to a broader array of experiences and viewpoints.  “We’re seeing a shift where gun ownership is no longer monolithic but reflective of America’s diversity,” Hubbert pointed out.

Another benefit is the potential to reduce crime. Many new gun owners, like Ciemnoczolowski, cite personal safety as the primary motivation for purchasing a firearm. As Democratic gun ownership rises, there is a chance that more individuals will feel empowered to defend themselves and their families in a responsible manner. This suggests that despite what leftist politicians and media figures claim, Americans on both sides of the aisle recognize that crime remains an issue and are arming themselves in response.

Even further, members of the LGBTQ community, as well as racial minorities, cited concerns over hate crimes and other types of dangers as reasons to arm themselves. Yet, it is more likely that these people are concerned about overall crime, given that it happens far more often than acts of violence motivated by bigotry.

It is also worth looking at how this trend might impact the gun control debate. If more Democrats are recognizing the value of the Second Amendment, there could be fewer who tolerate attacks on the right to keep and bear arms. Perhaps this will result in more resistance to those seeking to make it harder for people to possess the means by which they can defend themselves. Sure, there are plenty on the left who believe only certain people should be allowed to own firearms.

But, if there are more on the left who become gun owners, and they recognize that a growing number of minorities are doing the same, they might come to realize how gun control disproportionately harms black and brown Americans and be less adamant about disarming them.

Of course, this would take more education and messaging about the dangers of gun control and the racist history of efforts to violate the Second Amendment. One individual highlighted the inconsistency among leftists who claim to champion the First Amendment while attacking the Second. “I don’t understand that rhetoric of ‘protect my right’ and not protect the rights of other people,” said one of the interviewees.

The Second Amendment is for everyone. The right to defend one’s life, their loved ones, and their property is shared by all Americans, which is why it is a good thing if more liberals are waking up to the reality that the government cannot always be there to save them from bad actors.