AP U.S. Government and Politics · Past multiple choice · Question 4
Survey data on gun ownership and rights
Use the same chart to choose the best explanation of how respondents see gun ownership and personal freedom.
1 Read the question
The question is College Board's: sample question 4 in AP U.S. Government and Politics Course and Exam Description. It starts on page 180 of the PDF.
Open Question 4 (PDF, page 180)
Questions 3 and 4 share this
2 Pick your answer
3 Check the explanation
Why the answer is A open once you have picked
The only right the two groups really disagree about is owning guns. About three quarters of gun owners call it essential to their freedom, but only about a third of non-gun owners do. That gap is the poll's version of a lasting public argument: one side sees gun regulation as a limit on an individual liberty, and the other does not see gun ownership as part of liberty at all, so it is more open to gun control laws.
Choice A is the only option that draws its conclusion from the gun row and stays within what the data can show. It describes a debate among the public, which is exactly what a survey of adults measures.
Each choice
- A (correct). The 74 to 35 split on gun rights shows the public divided over whether gun laws protect or restrict individual liberty.
- B. This stretches one gap into a general claim. On speech, voting, privacy and religion the two groups are within three points, so they do not differ widely across a range of civil liberties.
- C. Parties, elections and levels of government never appear in the chart. The groups are defined by gun ownership, not party, so this conclusion goes past the data.
- D. The survey asked adults in general, not members of Congress. Choosing this means bringing in a claim about lawmakers the chart says nothing about.
Question and answer key: College Board. The title and summary are ours, and so is the explanation.