Why Some Americans Buy Guns
Social scientists are just beginning to understand who buys guns and how gun ownership can change behavior.
In 2020, as many communities were locked down by Covid, protesters flooded the streets, and economic uncertainty and social isolation worsened, Americans embarked on a shopping spree. For guns.
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Some 22 million guns were sold that year, 64% more than in 2019. More than eight million of those went to novices who had never owned a firearm, according to the firearms industry trade association, the National Shooting Sports Foundation. The number of firearm deaths, including suicides, increased from 39,702 in 2019 to 45,222 in 2020. The number of lives lost due to firearms increased again in 2021, reaching 48,830 .
After 25 years of suppressing gun violence research, Congress began funneling millions of dollars to federal agencies in 2021 to collect data.
Here's what social psychologists are finding out about who bought guns, what motivated them, and how owning or even owning a gun can change behavior.
Who started buying guns?Millions of Americans who had never owned a gun bought one during a period of two and a half years that began in January 2019, before the pandemic, and continued until April 2021.
Of the 7.5 million of people who bought their first gun during that time, 5.4 million had previously lived in gun-free homes, researchers at Harvard and Northeastern University estimated.
The new buyers were different from the white males who historically made up the majority of gun owners. Half were women, and nearly half were people of...
Social scientists are just beginning to understand who buys guns and how gun ownership can change behavior.
In 2020, as many communities were locked down by Covid, protesters flooded the streets, and economic uncertainty and social isolation worsened, Americans embarked on a shopping spree. For guns.
For more audio journalism and storytelling, download New York Times Audio , a new iOS available to news subscribers.
Some 22 million guns were sold that year, 64% more than in 2019. More than eight million of those went to novices who had never owned a firearm, according to the firearms industry trade association, the National Shooting Sports Foundation. The number of firearm deaths, including suicides, increased from 39,702 in 2019 to 45,222 in 2020. The number of lives lost due to firearms increased again in 2021, reaching 48,830 .
After 25 years of suppressing gun violence research, Congress began funneling millions of dollars to federal agencies in 2021 to collect data.
Here's what social psychologists are finding out about who bought guns, what motivated them, and how owning or even owning a gun can change behavior.
Who started buying guns?Millions of Americans who had never owned a gun bought one during a period of two and a half years that began in January 2019, before the pandemic, and continued until April 2021.
Of the 7.5 million of people who bought their first gun during that time, 5.4 million had previously lived in gun-free homes, researchers at Harvard and Northeastern University estimated.
The new buyers were different from the white males who historically made up the majority of gun owners. Half were women, and nearly half were people of...
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