By Dave Workman
A newly-released study by the University of Colorado, Boulder includes some startling revelations, including the fact that 42 percent of respondents think gun control laws are unconstitutional, and 32 percent think permits should not be required to carry funs in public.
The study was published in the journal Social Science Quarterly. It also revealed that 32 percent of respondents believe guns should be allowed on college campuses and that 42 percent believe owning a gun makes someone safer. Fifty-two percent think having a gun does not make a person safer.
The report dubs people in the 18-to-29 year age group as the “massacre generation.” According to the report, “In 2022, sociologists coined the phrase ‘massacre generation’ to describe young people growing up in a post-Columbine, post 9/11-era in which mass shootings dominate news coverage and social media, and lockdown drills are the norm.”
These young adults have widely differing opinions about guns, gun ownership and gun control laws, the study determined.
According to a study abstract, “Fear of mass shootings was positively associated with gun control sentiment among emerging adults overall, though the association was modest. However, moderation analyses revealed striking heterogeneity: among Republicans, conservatives, men, and residents of the Northeast, greater fear of mass shootings was associated with decreased support for gun control. Race/ethnicity and educational attainment did not moderate this relationship.”
The abstract concluded, “Despite growing up amid increasing threats of mass violence, emerging adults are not uniform in their sentiments toward gun control. Instead, fear of mass shootings may serve to polarize rather than unite this cohort along political and demographic lines.”
Jillian Turanovic, associate professor of sociology, was the senior author of the study. She and her colleagues from Florida State University and Clemson University surveyed nearly 1,700 “emerging adults and found that they have the following concerns:
- You or someone you love will be a victim of a mass shooting.
- A mass shooting will happen to you or someone you love at a public event or gathering with large crowds.
- A mass shotting will happen to you or someone you love at a shopping mall, store, school, bar or a night club.
The study also acknowledges that mass shootings are relatively rare, and account for “only about 1% of all gun deaths each year.”
Still, mass shootings make headlines and the media pays plenty of attention, while at the same time there is rarely any mention of the fact that in any given year, the number of homicides involving knives outnumbers the number of murders committed with rifles of any kind, including so-called “assault rifles.” The ratio can range from two to four times the number committed with knives, according to FBI annual crime data.
