Most people probably assume that American attitudes toward gun regulation are fixed. But a new study reveals how such attitudes are malleable, even among gun owners themselves.
The article “Gun Ownership, Threat, and Gun Attitudes in an Experiment” argues that although exposure to danger can increase the desire to be armed, gun owners primed with a gun-related threat soften their views on regulation relative to non-gun owners. It appears in a special issue of Sociological Perspectives on Guns in America.
Abigail Vegter, Berry College Assistant Professor of Political Science, and Don Haider-Markel, University of Kansas professor of political science, started work on the project back in 2018, when they were curious when/if gun owners adjusted their attitudes toward gun regulation when exposed to a threat.
“Specifically, we were curious what would happen if gun owners were exposed to racialized threat,” Vegter said.
To test this, the researchers designed an experiment in which some participants were exposed to a dark-skinned man pointing a gun. Compared to gun owners in the control group, gun owners in the experimental group expressed significantly higher levels of support for gun control. These attitudes would seemingly be against their own self-interest -- as the policies would provide a hurdle for their gun ownership -- but when primed with a gun-related threat, their attitudes toward gun control shifted. There was no effect for non-gun owners.
Vegter, who earned her Ph.D. from the University of Kansas, and Haider-Markel are continuing the research to try and further assess the role of race in this relationship.
“In general, most gun owners own guns for protection. Mostly this is based on a fear of crime, but owning a gun reduces that fear,” said Haider-Markel.
The professors contend that those who own guns often want to emulate virtues such as courage, bravery and honor. Gun groups such as “Fearless Firearms” and “For the Brave” reinforce this idea. Scholarship has shown that individuals may purchase a gun as a means of mitigating anxiety over threats and experience lower levels of victimization fear once acquiring the weapon. Yet when faced with the possibility of a direct threat – such as a pistol being aimed directly at them — individuals may reconsider their general support for gun rights.
This study is more relevant than ever, as gun-buying during 2020-2021 was the largest on record. Many of these were reportedly first-time buyers. While such ownership in surveys is often underreported, current estimates hover around 35% of households possessing a firearm.
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