Political scientists from the University of Kansas have concluded that American gun owners exhibit higher levels of political participation, both in voting for their preferred candidates and in donating money to and contacting their elected officials.
Of these results, Abbie Vegter, a graduate student from the university opined, “Gun owners are a very strong political group who hold a lot of weight [and] influence despite being a minority in American politics.”
Vegter collaborated with professors Don Haider-Markel and Mark Joslyn for the research titled, “Motivated Voices: Gun Ownership and the Propensity for Political Participation.”
For the purposes of the study, the researchers examined the political behavior of non-gun owners and gun owners during presidential election years from 1972 to 2012. They found that gun owners have become increasingly more politically active during that time. These results may provide clues as to why major gun legislation in Congress has failed to reach a conclusion regarding the issue, even as the far Left calls for stricter gun control.
Particularly interesting is the fact that a majority of the gun owners observed in the study were not part of the National Rifle Association (NRA).
“Only one in five gun owners belong to the NRA, so we think there is something else going on than just the NRA when it comes to mobilization,” Vegter said.
The researchers are still exploring what has driven this shift in attitude among gun owners. However, it is reasoned that a contributing factor is the increasing pressure from national media to ban guns from being used by concerned, mentally capable, and healthy patriots. In the wake of the recent high-profile mass shootings, more conservatives are being faced with the possibility that their right to bear arms will be taken away from them.
Why gun owners vote
Owning a gun has, ostensibly, become a political choice. There are many reasons why a gun owner would want to stay up-to-date on gun legislation, including the fact that there is no correlation between gun control laws and reduced violence.
There is an intuitive argument that gun control advocates give: Guns are used to kill people. Therefore, if we reduce the number of guns in society, we will automatically reduce the number of murders happening.
This argument, while easy to understand, offers a simplistic solution to a much more complex problem. Reducing gun violence is indeed a desirable goal, and both sides agree that children should be kept safe from murderers. Nevertheless, one must also take a look at what the numbers show.
A 2016 city-level cross-sectional analysis published in Criminal Justice Review showed that “gun control laws generally show no evidence of effects on crime rates, possibly because gun levels do not have a net positive effect on violence rates.”
Furthermore, private gun ownership is noted to be one of the most effective ways to prevent crime. More than 6,500 Americans use their guns every day to defend themselves against criminals. Of these instances, nearly 16 percent say that using their firearms defensively “almost certainly” saved their lives. (Related: GUNS SAVE LIVES: Rampaging knife murderer in Minnesota mall was stopped by... guess what? A man with a concealed gun.)
Women also have a stake in how our country manages gun ownership. Studies have shown that only three percent of rape attacks are completed when a woman is armed with a gun or knife, as compared to 32 percent when the woman is unarmed.
All the same, surveys show that support for gun control is increasing, with those aged 18 to 29 highly supporting stricter gun legislation.
Read more articles on why we should continue defending our gun rights at SelfDefense.news.
Sources include:
NCJRS.gov [PDF]
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