Nearly two-thirds of U.S. voters (63%) say Barack Obama is more likely than John McCain to restrict an individual’s right to own a gun, according to a new Rasmussen Reports national telephone survey.

Just 16% believe McCain is more likely to do so, and 22% are undecided.

A plurality of Democrats (42%) agree that Obama is more likely to restrict gun rights, as do 84% of Republicans and 64% of unaffiliated voters.

As in a survey in June, voters are evenly divided on the need for stricter gun control laws. Forty-three percent (43%) say they are needed, but 44% disagree.

Sixty-three percent (63%) of Democrats say America needs stricter gun control, but 65% of Republicans take the opposite view. Unaffiliated voters by an eight-point margin do not see a need for stricter laws.

Sixty-four percent (64%) say the issue of gun control is at least somewhat important to how they will vote, with 32% saying it is Very Important. Just 10% say the issue is not important at all.

While 39% of GOP voters say gun control is Very Important to how they will vote, only 28% of both Democrats and unaffiliated voters feel the same way. Fifteen percent (15%) of unaffiliateds say it’s not important at all, as do 10% of Democrats and five percent (5%) of Republicans.

For 62% of those who say they are certain to vote, gun control is at least somewhat important to how they will vote. Eighty-two percent (82%) of first-time voters agree.

Nationally, Obama has been leading McCain every day for more than a month in the Rasmussen Reports daily Presidential Tracking Poll. He also has a healthy lead in the Electoral College projections.

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While McCain lays out specific positions on a variety of gun control issues on his campaign website, Obama’s site has nothing on the subject. The Republican opposes stricter gun control laws and approves of the Supreme Court’s recent ruling knocking down Washington, D.C.’s longtime ban on handguns. The Democrat has said that while he agrees with a citizen’s Second Amendment right to own a gun, gun ownership should be “subject to reasonable regulations enacted by local communities to keep their streets safe.”

In a survey following the high court decision, 58% of voters said McCain agreed with the ruling, but voter were evenly divided on whether Obama agreed with it or disagreed with it.

Women, who have consistently polled higher for Obama nationwide, put slightly more emphasis than men on the importance of gun control to their vote. Forty-six percent (46%) of female voters support stricter gun control laws versus 41% of men. Forty-eight percent (48%) of men oppose stricter gun control, compared to 39% of women. A majority of women (57%) also say no one in their household has a gun, but only 44% of men agree.

Among all voters, 46% say someone in their household owns a gun, but 50% say there’s no gun in their home.

Fifty-two percent (52%) of both Republicans and unaffiliated voters say there is a gun in the house, but 61% of Democrats say there is not.

The National Rife Association, the influential pro-gun lobby group, says Obama would be the most anti-gun president in U.S. history. Forty-seven percent (47%) of voters have at least a somewhat favorable view of the NRA, including 24% who say their view is Very Favorable. Thirty-six percent (36%) have at least a somewhat unfavorable opinion of the group, with 16% saying that view is Very Unfavorable. Seven percent (7%) are undecided.

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