Who bought a gun during the COVID-19 pandemic in the United States?: Associations with QAnon beliefs, right-wing political attitudes, intimate partner violence, antisocial behavior, suicidality, and mental health and substance use problems

Abstract

There was a large spike in gun purchases and gun violence during the first year of the COVID-19 pandemic in the United States. We used an online U.S. national survey (N = 1036) to examine the characteristics of people who purchased a gun between March 2020 and October 2021 (n = 103) and compared them to non-gun owners (n = 763) and people who own a gun but did not purchase a gun during the COVID-19 pandemic (n = 170). Compared to non-gun owners, pandemic gun buyers were younger and more likely to be male, White race, and to affiliate with the Republican party. Compared to non-gun owners and pre-pandemic gun owners, pandemic gun buyers exhibited extreme elevations on a constellation of political (QAnon beliefs, pro-gun attitudes, Christian Nationalism, approval of former President Donald Trump, anti-vax beliefs, COVID-19 skepticism; mean Cohen’s d = 1.15), behavioral (intimate partner violence, antisocial behavior; mean d = 1.38), mental health (suicidality, depression, anxiety, substance use; mean d = 1.21), and personality (desire for power, belief in a dangerous world, low agreeableness, low conscientiousness; mean d = 0.95) characteristics. In contrast, pre-pandemic gun owners only endorsed more pro-gun attitudes (d = 0.67), lower approval of President Joe Biden (d = -0.41) and were more likely to be male and affiliate with the Republican party relative to non-gun owners. Pandemic gun buyers represent an extreme group in terms of political and psychological characteristics including several risk-factors for violence and self-harm.

Firearm Ownership and Support for Political Violence in the United States

“…Recent purchasers and always or nearly always carriers were more likely than their comparators to see political violence as justified, more willing to engage in it, more willing to kill to advance political objectives, and more willing to organize a violent group. Pandemic-era purchasers, as compared with other firearm owners, were found in a small opt-in survey to possess many characteristics associated with an increased risk for violence . An early-2020 study by our group found an association at the state level between the size of increases in firearm purchasing in the first months of the pandemic and the size of subsequent increases in violence, but that association was not maintained over time …”

“…Pandemic-era purchasers, as compared with other firearm owners, were found in a small opt-in survey to possess many characteristics associated with an increased risk for violence. 30 An early-2020 study by our group found an association at the state level between the size of increases in firearm purchasing in the first months of the pandemic and the size of subsequent increases in violence, 5 but that association was not maintained over time. 7 It is plausible based on our findings that some recent purchasers have been arming up for anticipated civil conflict.…”