Abstract
Mass shootings in the United States have generated significant media coverage and public concern, invigorating debates over gun control. Media coverage and academic research on gun control attitudes and reactions to mass shootings have paid little attention to the role of religion. Recent research sheds light on the complex relationship between religion and guns, including higher rates of gun ownership and stronger opposition to gun control among white evangelical Protestants. Using nationally representative survey data, this study examines the relationship between religious identity, gun ownership, and support for a range of gun control policies, including proposed remedies for preventing mass shootings. Compared with individuals from other religious traditions, evangelical Protestants are most opposed to stricter gun control laws and enforcement, even with statistical controls for gun ownership and demographic characteristics. Rather, they favor individualistic solutions and putting more emphasis on religious values in their social surroundings. I discuss how these findings reflect the cultural tools evangelical Protestants use to construct their understandings of social problems, including gun violence, and the broader implications for gun policy in the United States.
Highlights
While mass shootings represent a small percentage of gun-related deaths in the United States, they generate a great deal of media coverage and public concern (Healy 2015; Greenberg et al 2018)
The problem is hearts without God. It is homes without discipline and communities without values” (Chang 2018). These and similar arguments suggest that flawed individuals, family dysfunction, and irreligious societal values are to blame for gun violence, and that looser gun control could be a defense against future violence
When presented with five proposals to reduce the occurrence of mass shootings, respondents are divided
Summary
While mass shootings represent a small percentage of gun-related deaths in the United States, they generate a great deal of media coverage and public concern (Healy 2015; Greenberg et al 2018). It is homes without discipline and communities without values” (Chang 2018) These and similar arguments suggest that flawed individuals, family dysfunction, and irreligious societal values are to blame for gun violence, and that looser gun control could be a defense against future violence. Religion has an important influence on individuals’ and groups’ cultural tool kits, or the ways that they organize experience and evaluate reality (Swidler 1986) Since these cultural tools are transposable, or extended to a range of situations, they shape how people respond to claims about social problems and what should be done about them. The current study uses data from a nationally representative survey conducted in 2012 to examine the relationship between Americans’ religious identities and their attitudes toward a range of gun-related policies and proposed solutions to address mass shootings. I focus primarily on white evangelical Protestants, who tend to have higher rates of gun ownership and opposition to gun control than do Americans who identify with other faiths (Zylstra 2017)
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