Two researchers recently found that when examining men who are going through financial problems, many of their passionate views about firearms derive from a sense of “empowerment”—and they feel stricter gun laws are an attack on their masculinity.
The study by Baylor University sociology professors Carson Mencken and Paul Froese found white men who own firearms and have lost financial stability, or think they soon will, find moral and emotional solace in their guns.
Other demographic groups, such as women and nonwhite males, don’t place as much importance on guns, the study shows. The professors also found that gun owners on average are typically white, male, married, older and living in rural areas.
“Gun control for these owners has come to represent an attack on their masculinity, independence and moral identity,” Froese said in a statement.
Froese said this belief wasn’t as prevalent in religious white men, who instead feel their guns are “sacred,” but aren’t as attached as their non-practicing counterparts.
The study by Baylor University sociology professors Carson Mencken and Paul Froese found white men who own firearms and have lost financial stability, or think they soon will, find moral and emotional solace in their guns.
Other demographic groups, such as women and nonwhite males, don’t place as much importance on guns, the study shows. The professors also found that gun owners on average are typically white, male, married, older and living in rural areas.
“Gun control for these owners has come to represent an attack on their masculinity, independence and moral identity,” Froese said in a statement.
Froese said this belief wasn’t as prevalent in religious white men, who instead feel their guns are “sacred,” but aren’t as attached as their non-practicing counterparts.
