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Social Disruption, Gun Buying, and Anti-System Beliefs

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  06 December 2022

Matthew J. Lacombe Open the ORCID record for Matthew J. Lacombe [Opens in a new window] ,
Matthew D. Simonson Open the ORCID record for Matthew D. Simonson [Opens in a new window] ,
Jon Green Open the ORCID record for Jon Green [Opens in a new window]  and
James N. Druckman Open the ORCID record for James N. Druckman [Opens in a new window]
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Abstract

Gun ownership is a highly consequential political behavior. It often signifies a belief about the inadequacy of state-provided security and leads to membership in a powerful political constituency. As a result, it is important to understand why people buy guns and how shifting purchasing patterns affect the composition of the broader gun-owning community. We address these topics by exploring the dynamics of the gun-buying spike that took place during the COVID-19 pandemic, which was one of the largest in American history. We find that feelings of diffuse threat prompted many individuals to buy guns. Moreover, we show that new gun owners, even more than buyers who already owned guns, exhibit strong conspiracy and anti-system beliefs. These findings have substantial consequences for the subsequent population of gun owners and provide insight into how social disruptions can alter the nature of political groups.

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Perspectives on Politics , First View , pp. 1 - 18
Copyright
© The Author(s), 2022. Published by Cambridge University Press on behalf of the American Political Science Association

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Footnotes

Data replication sets are available in Harvard Dataverse at: https://doi.org/10.7910/DVN/YI3DA1

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