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Related: Editorials & Other Articles, Issue Forums, Alliance Forums, Region ForumsScientific American: Why Are White Men Stockpiling Guns? (Spoiler:Because they're insecure racists)
Why Are White Men Stockpiling Guns?Research suggests it's largely because they're anxious about their ability to protect their families, insecure about their place in the job market and beset by racial fears
Since the 2008 election of President Obama, the number of firearms manufactured in the U.S. has tripled, while imports have doubled. This doesnt mean more households have guns than ever beforethat percentage has stayed fairly steady for decades. Rather, more guns are being stockpiled by a small number of individuals. Three percent of the population now owns half of the countrys firearms, says a recent, definitive study from the Injury Control Research Center at Harvard University.
So, who is buying all these gunsand why?
The short, broad-brush answer to the first part of that question is this: men, who on average possess almost twice the number of guns female owners do. But not all men. Some groups of men are much more avid gun consumers than others. The American citizen most likely to own a gun is a white malebut not just any white guy. According to a growing number of scientific studies, the kind of man who stockpiles weapons or applies for a concealed-carry license meets a very specific profile.
These are men who are anxious about their ability to protect their families, insecure about their place in the job market, and beset by racial fears. They tend to be less educated. For the most part, they dont appear to be religiousand, suggests one study, faith seems to reduce their attachment to guns. In fact, stockpiling guns seems to be a symptom of a much deeper crisis in meaning and purpose in their lives. Taken together, these studies describe a population that is struggling to find a new storyone in which they are once again the heroes.
When Northland College sociologist Angela Stroud studied applications for licenses to carry concealed firearms in Texas, which exploded after President Obama was elected, she found applicants were overwhelmingly dominated by white men. In interviews, they told her that they wanted to protect themselves and the people they love.
When men became fathers or got married, they started to feel very vulnerable, like they couldnt protect families, she says. For them, owning a weapon is part of what it means to be a good husband a good father. That meaning is rooted in fear and vulnerabilityvery motivating emotions.
Since the 2008 election of President Obama, the number of firearms manufactured in the U.S. has tripled, while imports have doubled. This doesnt mean more households have guns than ever beforethat percentage has stayed fairly steady for decades. Rather, more guns are being stockpiled by a small number of individuals. Three percent of the population now owns half of the countrys firearms, says a recent, definitive study from the Injury Control Research Center at Harvard University.
So, who is buying all these gunsand why?
The short, broad-brush answer to the first part of that question is this: men, who on average possess almost twice the number of guns female owners do. But not all men. Some groups of men are much more avid gun consumers than others. The American citizen most likely to own a gun is a white malebut not just any white guy. According to a growing number of scientific studies, the kind of man who stockpiles weapons or applies for a concealed-carry license meets a very specific profile.
These are men who are anxious about their ability to protect their families, insecure about their place in the job market, and beset by racial fears. They tend to be less educated. For the most part, they dont appear to be religiousand, suggests one study, faith seems to reduce their attachment to guns. In fact, stockpiling guns seems to be a symptom of a much deeper crisis in meaning and purpose in their lives. Taken together, these studies describe a population that is struggling to find a new storyone in which they are once again the heroes.
When Northland College sociologist Angela Stroud studied applications for licenses to carry concealed firearms in Texas, which exploded after President Obama was elected, she found applicants were overwhelmingly dominated by white men. In interviews, they told her that they wanted to protect themselves and the people they love.
When men became fathers or got married, they started to feel very vulnerable, like they couldnt protect families, she says. For them, owning a weapon is part of what it means to be a good husband a good father. That meaning is rooted in fear and vulnerabilityvery motivating emotions.
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Scientific American: Why Are White Men Stockpiling Guns? (Spoiler:Because they're insecure racists) (Original Post)
Julian Englis
Mar 2018
OP
Describes most of the men where I live. Curiously, the county is about 97% white.
dameatball
Mar 2018
#4
JI7
(89,244 posts)1. the high gun sales when Obama won elections shows this
TwistOneUp
(1,020 posts)2. At a gun store in FL....
Peeps were lined up around the block when Obama took the Primary!
freethought
(2,457 posts)3. Insecure about their place in the job market?
Welcome to the club bub! The workers club! Virtually nobody has job security these days.
ehrnst
(32,640 posts)6. But WE WERE PROMISED THAT!!
The privilege has lessened. They didn't see themselves as privileged, so now they see themselves as being deprived.
They say that's a big reason behind the spike in early deaths in white people, especially the working class from suicide and additicions. They had expectations of what their parents had, and are coming up against a new reality.
Whereas people of color have seen obstacles to the American Dream for generations. They don't take it for granted, and are not as bowled over by them.
dameatball
(7,396 posts)4. Describes most of the men where I live. Curiously, the county is about 97% white.
So I am not sure who they are afraid of.
ehrnst
(32,640 posts)5. White male fear expressing itself as anger, which is more acceptable to them... (nt)
USALiberal
(10,877 posts)7. Most gun nuts way over estimate their chances of needing a gun! Nt
aikoaiko
(34,165 posts)8. Full disclosure: this is a blog entry and not a Scientific American article.
A Scientific American article wouldnt infer causation from correlation.
Gothmog
(145,079 posts)9. Who is surprised by this?