Americans are purchasing guns at record levels, and there’s a growing perception that all of those buyers are part of an ominous ‘gun culture’. The notion is, if we can just understand who is behind the buying frenzy, we can address the root of the problem.
However, as the article from Godzilla Newz reveals, the gun buying trend may not be coming from the demographic that people expect.
According to the report, the vast majority of gun owners in the United States are white and male. However, the data indicates that black and Latina women are rapidly becoming large segments of the gun owner population. It appears that the increase in female gun owners may be attributed to heightened feelings of personal safety, constituting self-defense as the primary reason for buying a gun.
The report also reveals something remarkable about the political identity of this growing segment of gun owners. They’re more likely to identify as either Democrats or independents, indicating that their gun purchase patterns cannot be accurately characterized as being politically driven.
Instead, the motivations seem to be rooted in a desire for self-protection in a turbulent world. Data suggests that this is especially true in larger cities, where crime and gun violence is particularly pronounced.
These unusual trends indicate that attempts to reduce gun violence must be tailored to the unique motivations of its primary purchasers. In other words, a comprehensive answer to the problem of gun violence must go beyond the simplistic notion of a homogeneous ‘gun culture’ – as it turns out, Americans are buying guns, but maybe not necessarily the Americans that we traditionally associate with gun owners.
