Gun Ownership and Life Satisfaction in the United States

Abstract

ObjectiveAlthough there is little empirical evidence linking gun ownership with personal well‐being, speculation is widespread in gun culture. In this article, we test whether people who own guns are more or less satisfied with their lives than people who do not own guns.MethodsWe employ data collected from three national surveys, the Baylor Religion Survey (2014), the Chapman University Survey on American Fears (2014), and the General Social Survey (2018) to formally assess this understudied association.ResultsIn adjusted models, gun ownership was unrelated to life satisfaction. This general pattern was consistent across surveys, different measures and specifications of life satisfaction, and a wide range of subgroups.ConclusionOur analyses contribute to the growing study of gun ownership and personal well‐being and challenge theoretical perspectives and cultural narratives about how owning a gun can contribute favorably to one's quality of life.

Modeling recent gun purchases: A social epidemiology of the pandemic arms race

“…Pandemic gun purchases and gun-related violence have been at least partially motivated by widespread uncertainty and fear, trauma and loss ( Caputi et al, 2020 , Kravitz-Wirtz et al, 2021 , Lyons et al, 2021 ). One reason for these motivations is the idea that guns may somehow empower their owners by contributing to a subjective sense of personal control over life ( Hill et al, 2020 , Mencken and Froese, 2019 ). These themes clearly dovetail with our profile of recent gun purchasers.…”

Sexual Dysfunction and Gun Ownership in America: When Hard Data Meet a Limp Theory

“…Gun owners make a lot of claims about guns. Many will tell you that guns improve their lives, make them happy, and help them to sleep better at night, but none of these claims have been established empirically (Hill, Dowd-Arrow, Davis, et al, 2020; Hill, Dowd-Arrow, Burdette, Hale, et al, 2020; Hill, Dowd-Arrow, Burdette, Warner, et al 2020). People who do not own guns will tell you that gun owners are motivated by impotence and fear, but these ideas are also unfounded (DeFronzo, 1979; Dowd-Arrow et al, 2019; Hauser & Kleck, 2013; Kleck, 1997).…”

Pictures of you: God images, gun ownership, and empowerment in the United States

“…2019; Hill et al. 2020a, 2020b, 2022). Studies of religiosity and gun‐related outcomes have been identified as especially “rudimentary” (Ellison et al.…”

“…As Yamane (2017) has noted, sociological perspectives on guns have been surprisingly underdeveloped. Although recent special issues on "guns and society" have attempted to broaden this area of study (Dowd-Arrow, Hill, and Burdette 2020;Steidley and Yamane 2022), scholars have mostly focused on a narrow range of research topics, including patterns and correlates of gun ownership (Dowd-Arrow, Hill, and Burdette 2019;Legault 2008), the changing cultural meanings associated with owning and using firearms in the United States (Carlson 2015b;Mencken and Froese 2019), and the relationship between gun ownership and well-being (Dowd-Arrow et al 2019;Hill et al 2020aHill et al , 2020bHill et al , 2022. Studies of religiosity and gun-related outcomes have been identified as especially "rudimentary" (Ellison et al 2021).…”