scholarly journals The psychology of guns: risk, fear, and motivated reasoning

2019 ◽  
Vol 5 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Joseph M. Pierre
Keyword(s):  
Cognitive Bias ◽  
Motivated Reasoning ◽  
Gun Control ◽  
Psychological Perspective ◽  
Middle Ground ◽  
Cultural Meanings ◽  
Mass Shootings ◽  
Culture Of Fear ◽  
Shared Culture ◽  
Gun Debate

AbstractThe gun debate in America is often framed as a stand-off between two immutable positions with little potential to move ahead with meaningful legislative reform. Attempts to resolve this impasse have been thwarted by thinking about gun ownership attitudes as based on rational choice economics instead of considering the broader socio-cultural meanings of guns. In this essay, an additional psychological perspective is offered that highlights how concerns about victimization and mass shootings within a shared culture of fear can drive cognitive bias and motivated reasoning on both sides of the gun debate. Despite common fears, differences in attitudes and feelings about guns themselves manifest in variable degrees of support for or opposition to gun control legislation that are often exaggerated within caricatured depictions of polarization. A psychological perspective suggests that consensus on gun legislation reform can be achieved through understanding differences and diversity on both sides of the debate, working within a common middle ground, and more research to resolve ambiguities about how best to minimize fear while maximizing personal and public safety.

The Gun Debate

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Philip J. Cook ◽  
Kristin A. Goss
Keyword(s):  
Gun Violence ◽  
Gun Control ◽  
Special Interest Groups ◽  
Political Scientist ◽  
Political Climate ◽  
Public Officials ◽  
Mass Shootings ◽  
Gun Debate ◽  
Gun Culture ◽  
The Impact

No topic is more polarizing than guns and gun control. From a gun culture that took root early in American history to the mass shootings that repeatedly bring the public discussion of gun control to a fever pitch, the topic has preoccupied citizens, public officials, and special interest groups for decades. In this thoroughly revised second edition of The Gun Debate: What Everyone Needs to Know® noted economist Philip J. Cook and political scientist Kristin A. Goss delve into the issues that Americans debate when they talk about guns. With a balanced and broad-ranging approach, the authors thoroughly cover the latest research, data, and developments on gun ownership, gun violence, the firearms industry, and the regulation of firearms. The authors also tackle sensitive issues such as the impact of gun violence on quality of life, the influence of exposure to gun violence on mental health, home production of guns, arming teachers, the effect of concealed weapons on crime rates, and the ability of authorities to disarm people who aren’t allowed to have a gun. No discussion of guns in the U.S. would be complete without consideration of the history, culture, and politics that drive the passion behind the debate. Cook and Goss deftly explore the origins of the American gun culture and the makeup of both the gun rights and gun control movements. Written in question-and-answer format, this updated edition brings the debate up-to-date for the current political climate under Trump and will help readers make sense of the ideologically driven statistics and slogans that characterize our national conversation on firearms. This book is a must-read for anyone interested in getting a clear view of the issues surrounding guns and gun policy in America.

Public interest in gun control in the USA

2019 ◽  
Vol 25 (Suppl 1) ◽  
pp. i16-i17 ◽  
Author(s):  
Joshua D Niforatos ◽  
Alexander R Zheutlin ◽  
Richard M Pescatore
Keyword(s):  
Public Interest ◽  
Cross Sectional Study ◽  
Gun Control ◽  
Google Trends ◽  
Mass Shootings ◽  
Cross Sectional ◽  
Political Events ◽  
Inflection Points ◽  
The Usa ◽  
Mass Shooting

To characterise public interest in gun control in the USA using internet search queries, we undertook a cross-sectional study of the relative popularity Google Trends searchers for ‘Gun Control’, ‘Second Amendment’, ‘National Rifle Association’ and ‘Mass Shooting’ from May 2015 to December 2018. 740 weeks of data were queried. Graphed data revealed nine major inflection points. Seven of the nine (78%) major inflection points were associated with mass shootings, while two of the nine (22%) were related to political events by either the president of the USA or a presidential candidate. Our exploration of Google Trends shows the frequency of national searches related to gun control peaks with mass shootings over a 1–2-week period and then stabilises to nominal relative popularity thereafter suggesting a need to engage the public on gun control during ‘trough’ periods in order to sustain national interest and dialogue.

US red flag gun laws passage possible pre-election

2019 ◽  
Keyword(s):  
El Paso ◽  
Gun Violence ◽  
Gun Control ◽  
Control Measures ◽  
Mass Shootings ◽  
Content Type ◽  
White House ◽  
Legislative Action ◽  
Red Flag ◽  
Gun Laws

Significance Schumer's move follows three recent mass shootings, one on July 28 in Gilroy, California and two within hours of each other on August 3-4 in Dayton, Ohio and El Paso, Texas. President Donald Trump has proposed legislative action to address gun violence, as have lawmakers in both chambers of Congress, while the public is also issuing fresh demands for federal action. Impacts The House and Senate could be recalled from recess in coming weeks to address gun control. The White House will investigate gun control measures Trump might introduce by executive powers. Trump will push for greater mental health services provision to combat gun violence.

scholarly journals Fighting National Amnesia: Profiling Public Attention to Mass Shootings in The United States

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Miles Chandler
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
Media Coverage ◽  
Public Perception ◽  
The United States ◽  
Gun Control ◽  
Decay Length ◽  
Public Attention ◽  
Mass Shootings ◽  
Search Volume ◽  
Mass Shooting

This study aims to identify factors that shape public perception and emotional response to mass shootings in the United States. I suggest that patterns of media coverage inform public consciousness and collective emotion. Newsworthiness and gatekeeping theories assert that school or prejudicial shootings and those with more victims are reported on at higher rates. Literature on racial and immigrant bias in media demonstrates that non-white shooters also generate more discourse. The directed construction of shootings and the affective public responses they generate align well with the concept of a “moral panic.” Using all valid cases from the Mother Jones Mass Shootings:1982-2019 dataset which align temporally with Google Trends data, I analyze the volume and decay rate of search topics “mass shooting,” “gun control,” and “open carry,” following US mass shootings from 2004-2019. Shootings with more victims predict a higher volume of searches for “mass shooting,” and shorter search periods for “gun control” and “open carry.” Shootings with educational and religious targets had no significant effects on search patterns. Workplace shootings result in longer search periods for “mass shooting,” and shorter periods for “gun control.” Non-white shooters generate shorter search decay for “open carry.” The results support theories of media gatekeeping, suggesting events with more casualties generate more intense public attention. The consistent negative correlation between search volume and decay length suggests that sensational responses to shootings are not sustainable over long periods of time and prohibit pragmatically addressing mass shootings.

State-Level Policy Response to Mass Shootings

2020 ◽  
pp. 397-417
Author(s):  
Ramona Sue McNeal ◽  
Mary Schmeida ◽  
Lisa Dotterweich Bryan ◽  
Susan M. Kunkle
Keyword(s):  
Time Series Data ◽  
State Level ◽  
The State ◽  
Gun Control ◽  
Series Data ◽  
Mass Shootings ◽  
Cross Sectional ◽  
Background Checks ◽  
Extreme Risk ◽  
Risk Protection

Recent mass shootings including Charleston, SC; Chattanooga, TN; Chardon, OH; Virginia Tech in Blacksburg, VA; and San Bernardino, California, have resulted in public outcry for action. Nevertheless, the response at the state level following these events has varied significantly, with some states loosening gun restrictions and others adopting a variety of gun safety policies ranging from private-sale background checks to extreme risk protection orders. Why has the state-level response varied so significantly? In exploring this question, this chapter examines the influence of state-level factors on current gun control legislation. This chapter explores the level of legislative action concerning the update and/or pass new laws for the years, 2009 through 2017. Pooled cross-sectional time series data that controls for variation between states and over time is used.

Mass Killings Past, Present, and Future

2020 ◽  
pp. 1-17
Author(s):  
Sheri Jenkins Keenan ◽  
Jeffrey P. Rush
Keyword(s):  
Gun Control ◽  
Mass Shootings ◽  
Public Places ◽  
Policy Makers ◽  
Second Amendment ◽  
Long Time ◽  
Mass Shooting ◽  
Mass Killings ◽  
Double Digit ◽  
Health Experts

Mass shootings have been of interest and concern to a variety of experts including psychologists, sociologists, criminologists, public health experts, and policy makers. Journalists have tracked mass shooting events for a long time. Recently, mass shootings in public places have dominated the national dialogue about gun violence, gun control, and Second Amendment protections due to several mass pubic shootings in recent years that resulted in double-digit victim counts. Regardless of the why, it seems clear that the ability to identify and predict this behavior as early as possible is important, for the killer as well as the community.

Conclusion

2021 ◽  
pp. 219-238
Author(s):  
Matthew J. Lacombe
Keyword(s):  
Political Parties ◽  
Interest Groups ◽  
Republican Party ◽  
Political Influence ◽  
Gun Control ◽  
American Democracy ◽  
Advocacy Organizations ◽  
National Rifle Association ◽  
Close Relationship ◽  
Gun Debate

This chapter looks toward the future of both the National Rifle Association (NRA) and the gun debate more broadly. It discusses potential threats to the NRA's political influence, including its own internal struggles, the rise of more effective gun control advocacy organizations, and the potential downsides of its close relationship with the Republican Party. The chapter also talks about the potential generalizability of the book's findings to other groups and policy areas. It considers the lessons that other groups might learn from the NRA in terms of cultivating and using ideational power. Ultimately, the chapter notes its implications for our understanding of interest groups and political parties, and reflects on the NRA's place in American democracy.

This is supposed to happen here: American gun culture and the rhetoric of child sacrifice

2020 ◽  
Vol 117 (3) ◽  
pp. 348-357
Author(s):  
Tad DeLay
Keyword(s):  
White Men ◽  
Historical Record ◽  
Gun Control ◽  
People Of Color ◽  
Mass Shootings ◽  
Recent Scholarship ◽  
Gun Culture

Recent years have seen the god Molech invoked within American gun control discourse as an accusation implying indifference to the loss of children in mass shootings. The historical record on child sacrifice mirrors the use of the accusation today; regardless of whether sacrifices to Molech or Cronos actually occurred, the accusation motivated ostracization. This article examines the record of child sacrifice and situates it within a reading of American gun culture and follows recent scholarship suggesting American gun culture is designed to delegate to persons, white men in particular, the ability to liquidate themselves, their families, and people of color. Finally, this article concludes by examining the gun as a fetish for enjoyment and by framing the gun psychoanalytically as a conversion symptom aiming to produce a “return of the repressed” in another’s body, namely, the corpse of a child which ensures more guns and more corpses will follow.

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