Abstract
This study explores public risk perceptions of other people's use of handguns and the influence of demographics on individuals' risk perceptions of other people's use of handguns. Data were collected from a nationally representative online survey of 2,008 individuals in the United States. The results indicate that the public views other people's use of handguns as highly risky (3.6 on a scale of 1 to 5). This result is not particularly interesting by itself, but when analyzing individuals' risk perceptions of other people's use of handguns along various demographics, interesting insights emerge. Specifically, the results indicate that women and minority groups, as well as older and more educated individuals have a significantly higher risk perception of other people's use of handguns. A better understanding of public risk perceptions of other people's use of handguns can provide critical insights needed to design appropriate gun safety policies.
Highlights
Despite remarkable decreases in firearm related deaths in the United States since the mid-1990s (Cohn et al, 2013), gun control remains one of the most polarizing policy issues
Using a scale of one to five, the results show that the mean public risk perception for other people’s use of handguns is 3.6
Because older individuals are significantly less likely to be a victim of firearm-related violence (Planty and Truman, 2013) and own firearms at a higher rate than younger individuals (NORC, 2015), theory would suggest that older individuals have a lower risk perception of another person using a handgun
Summary
Despite remarkable decreases in firearm related deaths in the United States since the mid-1990s (Cohn et al, 2013), gun control remains one of the most polarizing policy issues. Scholars have examined individuals’ perceptions of gun policies (Teret et al, 1998), as well as the relative incidence of gun victimization versus selfdefense gun use by individuals in the United States (Hemenway et al, 2000) These studies and others have significantly contributed to the gun control debate, they neglect to provide a thorough understanding of how individuals perceive the risk associated with using firearms. Despite an extensive collection of research on public risk perceptions of hazardous activities and technologies (Cutter et al, 1992; Fischhoff et al, 1978; Slovic et al, 1979), the relationship between public risk perceptions of other people using handguns and demographic characteristics has yet to be studied This is surprising given that, aside from gun ownership, demographic characteristics remain the strongest predictors of attitudes toward gun control (Kahan and Braman, 2003).
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