Republican women and Democratic men often break with party lines on gun policy

A new study published in American Politics Research sheds light on how Americans’ views on gun policy are shaped not just by their gender or political party, but by the intersection of these identities. While it’s well known that women tend to support stricter gun control measures more than men, and Democrats more than Republicans, the study found that these patterns become more complicated when gender and party affiliation interact. In particular, Republican women and Democratic men often hold positions that differ from their party’s mainstream.

The researchers, political scientists Michael A. Hansen and Kathleen Dolan, conducted the study to better understand how opinions on gun control and gun rights are influenced by both gender and party identification. For years, political scientists have studied the “gender gap” in public opinion—how women and men differ in their political preferences. But as the U.S. becomes more politically polarized, the researchers questioned whether this simple framework still captures the full picture. They asked: What happens when someone’s gender identity and party affiliation pull them in opposite directions?

“My co-author Kathy Dolan and I were motivated by a desire to move beyond the traditional ‘gender gap’ framing in public opinion research, particularly on gun policy,” explained Hansen, an associate professor at the University of Turku and co-author of The European Union: Politics and Policies.

“With increasing partisan polarization, we wanted to explore how gender and party might interact to shape attitudes, especially in ways that conventional approaches might overlook. Guns are a salient and polarizing issue in U.S. politics, making them an ideal case for investigating cross-pressures between social identities.”

To explore this question, Hansen and Dolan analyzed data from the 2022 Cooperative Election Study, a national survey that included responses from about 50,000 Americans. The survey asked participants to share their opinions on a range of gun policy proposals. These included three policies typically associated with gun control—such as banning assault weapons, improving background checks for young buyers, and funding efforts to remove firearms from individuals deemed dangerous—and three proposals that would expand gun rights, including allowing teachers to carry firearms, making concealed carry permits easier to obtain, and protecting gun owners’ privacy.

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The researchers focused on these six key policy items and examined support for each based on the respondent’s gender and political affiliation. They used statistical models to analyze the data, taking into account additional factors such as age, race, income, education, and political ideology. Crucially, they also tested for interaction effects—cases where the influence of gender might differ depending on party affiliation, and vice versa.

The analysis confirmed that women were more supportive of gun control measures than men, and Democrats more supportive than Republicans. However, once the researchers dug deeper into the data, they uncovered more complex patterns. Among Democrats, both women and men showed strong support for gun control measures, with only modest differences between the two. The average gender gap among Democrats was around five percentage points. But among Republicans, the gender gap was much wider—averaging about 12 percentage points. Republican women were significantly more supportive of gun control than Republican men and less likely to back gun rights expansion.

“While the patterns aligned with our expectations, it was helpful to see the size of the differences clearly,” Hansen told PsyPost. “For example, a notable share of Republican women supported banning assault weapons, though support among Democratic women was considerably higher. Similarly, Democratic men were much more supportive of gun control than Republican men. These results reinforce the importance of examining variation within gender and party groups rather than assuming uniform views.”

This larger gender gap among Republicans suggests that Republican women face cross-pressures: they may align with their party on many issues, but their gender identity leads them to view gun control in a more favorable light than their male counterparts. On the flip side, Democratic men showed slightly less enthusiasm for gun control than Democratic women, but the gap was smaller, indicating less internal conflict between gender and party identity.

The researchers also looked at partisan differences among women and among men. Here too, they found notable variation. Among women, both Republicans and Democrats tended to support some gun control measures, but Democratic women expressed higher levels of support across the board. Interestingly, 59 percent of Republican women supported banning assault rifles—a proposal often associated with Democratic platforms.

But the difference between Democratic and Republican women on this issue was about 31 percentage points. On gun rights issues, the gap between the two groups of women was also substantial. For instance, 61 percent of Republican women supported allowing teachers to carry guns in schools, compared to just 26 percent of Democratic women.

Among men, the partisan divide was even starker. Republican men were the least supportive of gun control and the most supportive of expanding gun rights. On many issues, the gap between Republican and Democratic men was larger than the gap among women. For example, while 77 percent of Democratic men supported banning assault weapons, only 35 percent of Republican men agreed—a 42-point difference. These findings suggest that Democratic men, like Republican women, may also experience cross-pressures, though in the opposite direction.

“The main takeaway is that gender and partisanship shape opinions in ways that are not uniform or isolated,” Hansen said. “While women tend to support gun control and Republicans tend to support gun rights, we find larger gender gaps among Republicans and larger partisan gaps among men. This suggests that Republican women and Democratic men often experience conflicting pressures from their gender and party identities. These cross-pressures produce more nuanced patterns of opinion and challenge the idea that party or gender groups are politically uniform.”

The study also points to broader implications for how advocacy groups and political leaders might communicate with the public. For example, gun control advocates may find opportunities to engage Republican women, who, while more conservative than Democratic women, show notable support for certain gun control measures. At the same time, the study suggests that Democratic men may require different messaging strategies, as they may be less uniformly supportive of gun reform than Democratic women.

Like all research, the study has some limitations. The researchers used self-reported survey data, which may not always reflect actual behavior or deep-seated beliefs. People may respond differently when filling out a survey than they would when voting or taking action. Additionally, the study focused on a specific point in time—the months surrounding the 2022 midterm elections—which may influence how people felt about gun issues in the wake of recent mass shootings or legislative debates.

“As with most survey research, our study captures self-reported attitudes at one point in time,” Hansen noted. “While we use high-quality data from the Cooperative Election Study, we cannot account for how views may shift in response to future events.”

Future research could build on these findings by exploring how identity-based cross-pressures affect other policy areas, such as climate change, abortion, or policing. Researchers might also investigate whether these identity tensions influence not just policy preferences, but political participation, such as voting, protesting, or donating to candidates. As American politics grows more polarized, understanding how different aspects of identity push people in different directions will be vital to understanding how public opinion forms and evolves.

“This study is part of a broader research agenda that investigates the increasingly central role of partisanship in shaping public attitudes, even on issues traditionally viewed through the lens of gender,” Hansen said. “Our future goal is continuing to better understand how gender and partisanship intersect, often in conflicting ways, to influence opinion and behavior in contemporary politics.”

“This study reinforces the importance of not treating groups as politically monolithic. Even on highly polarized issues like gun policy, there is meaningful variation within party and gender groups. That nuance has important implications for public debate and policymaking.”

The study, “Cross-Cutting Identities in American Politics: Gender, Party, and Attitudes on Gun Reform,” was published February 27, 2025.