MaverickNH
NES Member
Gun ownership and fear
“In this paper, we examine the link between gun ownership and fear. We ask whether gun owners are more or less afraid than people who do not own guns...The symptom perspective argues that gun ownership is a behavioral expression of fear, that gun owners need guns to protect themselves because they are irrational cowards. Although binary logistic regression models provided minimal support for this idea, there was some evidence to suggest that the odds of gun ownership are higher for people who report being afraid of being victimized by a random/mass shooting. The palliative perspective claims that gun ownership mitigates fear, that owning a powerful weapon is somehow soothing to individuals and their families. Ordinary least squares and negative binomial regression models suggest that people who own guns tend to report lower levels of phobias and victimization fears than people who do not own guns...people who own guns are less likely to report fears associated with animals (bugs, snakes, dogs, or any other animal/insect), heights (like balconies, bridges, or roofs), zombies, and being mugged.”
I have a new-found empathy for non-gun owners, who go to bed fearing zombies, wishing they had a zombie-gun but too afraid to buy one.
“In this paper, we examine the link between gun ownership and fear. We ask whether gun owners are more or less afraid than people who do not own guns...The symptom perspective argues that gun ownership is a behavioral expression of fear, that gun owners need guns to protect themselves because they are irrational cowards. Although binary logistic regression models provided minimal support for this idea, there was some evidence to suggest that the odds of gun ownership are higher for people who report being afraid of being victimized by a random/mass shooting. The palliative perspective claims that gun ownership mitigates fear, that owning a powerful weapon is somehow soothing to individuals and their families. Ordinary least squares and negative binomial regression models suggest that people who own guns tend to report lower levels of phobias and victimization fears than people who do not own guns...people who own guns are less likely to report fears associated with animals (bugs, snakes, dogs, or any other animal/insect), heights (like balconies, bridges, or roofs), zombies, and being mugged.”
I have a new-found empathy for non-gun owners, who go to bed fearing zombies, wishing they had a zombie-gun but too afraid to buy one.