Survey shows over 50% of Americans agree: There will be civil war in the United States in the next few years

Half of Americans agree that ″in the next few years, there will be civil war in the United States” and nearly one in five are confident that they will soon arm themselves with a gun in a situation where political violence is justified, according to a nationally representative survey released on Tuesday (19).

Half of those surveyed were women, and the average age of respondents was 48.

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Several social trends in the United States suggest an increased risk for political violence. Little is known about support for and personal willingness to engage in political violence and how those measures vary with the lethality of violence, specific circumstances, or specific populations as targets.

“This is a very strong methodological study that backs up what we are seeing in a lot of other data,” said Dr. Rachel Kleinfeld, a senior fellow at the Carnegie Endowment who specializes in democracy and security. “America is at risk of experiencing major political violence.”

The University of California, Davis researchers surveyed 8,600 people in May and early June. The preprint study is expected to undergo peer review later this summer.

The study was supported by grants from the Joyce Foundation, the California Wellness Foundation, and the Heising-Simons Foundation, and by the California Firearm Violence Research Center and UC Davis Violence Prevention Research Program.

Download the study here.