Citation

Shepperd JA, Pogge G, Losee JE, Lipsey NP, Redford L. J. Soc. Psychol. 2018; 158(5): 615-624.

Affiliation

Psychology Department , University of Florida , Gainesville , FL , USA.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2018, Informa - Taylor and Francis Group)

DOI

10.1080/00224545.2017.1412932

PMID

29206575

Abstract

All people share a need for safety. Yet, people's pursuit of safety can conflict when it comes to guns, where some people perceive guns as a means to safety and others perceive guns as a threat to safety. We examined this conflict on a United States college campus that prohibits guns. We distinguished between people (N = 11,390) who (a) own a gun for protection, (b) own a gun exclusively for reasons other than protection (e.g., collecting, sports), and (c) do not own a gun. Protection owners felt less safe on campus, supported allowing guns on campus, and reported that they and others would feel safer and that gun violence would decrease if they carried a gun on campus. Non-owners and non-protection owners felt the reverse. The findings suggest that protection concerns, rather than gun-ownership per se, account for diverging perceptions and attitudes about guns and gun control.

Language: en

Keywords

Guns; health and safety; needs; violence