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Abstract
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Few studies have examined variation in firearm policy opinions among firearm owners, even though these policies, which may target specific firearms or behaviors, may not affect all owners equally. In addition, the confluence of individuals’ firearm-related practices and motivations may reflect differences among owners that are unmeasured (eg, concern for safety) or unobservable (eg, culture) and that are associated with policy opinions.
With use of a state-representative survey of California adults, a previous study identified 5 latent classes of firearm ownership based on numbers and types of firearms owned, the primary reason for ownership, firearm storage, loaded handgun carrying behavior and motivations, and high-capacity ammunition magazine ownership. In this study, we assessed whether those patterns were associated with variation in opinions on 3 selected firearm policies.
Methods
Data for this survey study were from the 2018 California Safety and Well-being Survey administered from September 14, 2018, to October 12, 2018. The California Safety and Well-being Survey was approved by the University of California, Davis Institutional Review Board. Respondents received a standard informed consent page online. This study followed the American Association for Public Opinion Research (AAPOR) reporting guideline.
We examined support for 3 firearm policy proposals according to previously identified latent classes of ownership: owners of ≥5 firearms, including handguns and long guns (class 1); owners of 1 long gun for a reason other than protection (class 2); owners of 1 handgun for protection (class 3); owners of 2 to 4 firearms, including at least 1 for protection (class 4); and owners of ≥5 firearms, including assault weapons, and high-capacity magazines (class 5) (Table 1). Classes represent otherwise unobservable subgroups. Two of the firearm proposals concerned a ban on possession of high-capacity (>10 rounds) ammunition magazines, which was approved by voters in California in 2016 but since has been challenged in federal court. One proposal was for an amnesty to relinquish magazines, and the other was for a buyback. The third proposal, under consideration in the 2019 to 2020 California legislative session, would impose a time-limited firearm prohibition on individuals with multiple recent convictions for driving under the influence (DUI). We used χ2 tests (2-sided P < .05) to examine differences in policy opinions by class. All percentages are weighted.
Results
Of 5232 individuals invited to participate, 2558 (49%) completed the survey. Most owners (136 [31.0%; 95% CI, 24.9%-37.9%]) belonged to class 1, and the fewest (28 [8.2%; 95% CI, 4.8%-13.6%]) belonged to class 5. A total of 234 firearm owners (51.0%; 95% CI, 43.9-58.2) supported the amnesty proposal; 249 (55.1%; 95% CI, 47.8-62.2), the buyback proposal; and 248 (49.9%; 95% CI, 42.7-57.0), the DUI proposal. Support for the amnesty proposal varied significantly across ...
Language: en |