1.2.1 Attitudes towards Gun Control

1. Repeal all gun control laws and affirm the right to keep and bear arms (National Platform of the Libertarian Party, 2000)
2. Gun ownership (Everett, 2013)
3. Gun control laws are not nearly strict enough (Inbar, Pizzaro, and Bloom, 2008)

All items were asked in 9-point scale raning from 1 (Strongly Disagree) to 9 (Strongly Agree).

1.2.2 Samples

Exploratory (Nationally Representative of the American population; N=1500).

To conduct a exploratory and a confirmatory large surveys during the general election, we hired a professional survey firm (SSI, a US-based market research company that recruits participants from a panel of 7,139,027 American citizens; more information can be found at www.surveysampling.com (now https://www.dynata.com/) to recruit a nationally representative sample of 1,500 Americans (50.7% women) who completed study materials during the general election from August 16-September 9, 2016. (Information about sampling and exclusion criteria is included in the Supplement). The age distribution was as follows: 18-24 (12.9%), 25-34 (17.6%), 35-44 (17.5%), 45-54 (19.5%), 55-65 (15.6%) and older than 65 (16.9%). The ethnic breakdown was: White/European American (82.5%), Black/African American (7.7%), Latino (5.9%) and “Other” (4.0%). Concerning religion, 67.6% identified as Christian, 17.1% as religiously affiliated but not Christian, and 15.3% as Atheist/Agnostic. With respect to education 35.1% indicated “high school only or lower,” 31.4 % indicated “some college,” and 33.6% indicated having received a “Bachelor” or “Graduate” degree. 2424 participants were directed to the survey,1885 of which finished the survey (attrition rate 22 %). We followed recommendations to minimize the problem of careless responding in online studies. Specifically, we employed 10 random attention questions and time controls to check for data quality. There were 385 participants who failed more than one attention check or finished the survey in under ~22 minutes and were therefore excluded from the sample. For the 1500 participants who successfully finished the survey, completion time was 67 minutes on average (MD: 51min).

Confirmatory (Convenience Replication Sample; N=2119).

Also through SSI we also recruited 2,119 American adults (21.5% women), who completed study materials from August 20-September 13, 2016. (Information about sampling and exclusion criteria is included in the Supplement). Age was distributed as follows: 18-24 (9.1%), 25-34 (13.8%), 35-44 (11.4%), 45-54 (2.7%), 55-65(3.6%), 65 and older (59.3%). The ethnic breakdown was: White/European American (85.9%), Black/African American (5.1%), Latino (4.1%), and “Other” (5.0%). In terms of religion, 70.7% identified as Christian, 15.7% as religiously affiliated but not Christian, and 13.7% as Atheist/Agnostic. With respect to educational status, 16.2% chose “high school or lower,” 40.4% reported “some college” and 43.4% had attained a “Bachelor” or “Graduate” degree. The median income category was $50,000-$74,999. 3425 participants were directed to the survey, 2,262 of which finished the survey (attrition rate 22 %). We followed recommendations to minimize the problem of careless responding in online studies (Meade & Craig, 2012). Specifically, we employed 10 random attention questions and time controls to check for data quality. There were 543 participants who failed more than one attention check or finished the survey in under ~22 minutes and were therefore excluded from the sample. For the 2,119 participants who successfully finished the survey, completion time was 92 minutes on average (MD: 57min).

1.3.1 Means, SD, Range, & SE

1.3.2 Proportions

1.3.3 Distributions

1.3.4 Correlations

1.4.1 Social Class

Figure X. Gun Control as grouped by SES

1.4.2 Gender

Figure X. Gun Control as grouped by Gender

1.4.3 Age

Figure X. Gun Control as grouped by Age

1.4.4 Education

Figure X. Gun Control as grouped by Education

1.4.5 Income Levels

Figure X. Gun Control as grouped by Income Levels

1.4.6 Ethnicity

Figure X. Gun Control as grouped by Ethnicity

1.4.7 Occupation

Figure X. Gun Control as grouped by Occupation

1.4.8 Area

Figure X. Gun Control as grouped by Area

1.4.9 Religious Affiliation

Figure X. Gun Control as grouped by Religious Affiliation

1.4.10 Summary

1.5.1 Political Orientation

Figure X. Gun Control & Political Orientation

Figure X. Gun Control & Political Orientation

1.5.2 Religiosity

Figure X. Gun Control & Religiosity

1.5.3 Religiosity & Political Orientation

Figure X. Gun Control & Religiosity & Political Orientation

1.5.4 Candidate Preferences

Figure X. Gun Control & Candidate Preferences

Figure X. Gun Control & Candidate Preferences

1.5.5 Party Preferences

Figure X. Gun Control & Party Preferences

1.5.6 Voting

1.5.7 Party Identity

Figure X. Gun Control & Party Identity

Figure X. Gun Control, Party Identity and Voting

Tables meant for checking the number of observations in each category of the above graph.

1.5.8 Voting & Party Identity

Figure X. Gun Control & Party Identity & Voting Preferences

1.5.9 Likeability

1.5.10 Trump’s Likebility

Figure X. Gun Control & Trump’s Likebility

1.5.11 Clinton’s Likebility

Figure X. Gun Control & Clinton’s Likebility

1.5.12 Johnson’s Likebility

Figure X. Gun Control & Johnson’s Likebility

1.6.1 Ideologies and Partisanship

Figure X. Correlates of Gun Control

1.6.2 Populism, Nationalism, Nativism, and Patriotism

Figure X. Correlates of Gun Control

1.6.3 Political Psychology

Figure X. Correlates of Gun Control

1.6.4 Social Justice Concerns, Empathy, and Prejudice

Figure X. Correlates of Gun Control

1.6.5 Values

Figure X. Correlates of Gun Control

1.6.6 Pot-Pourri

Figure X. Correlates of Gun Control

1.6.7 Positive and Negative correlates of Gun Control

Figure X. Correlates of Gun Control

Figure X. Correlates of Gun Control