1 Gun Control

1.1 Table of Contents

  • 1.2. Study Characteristics
    • 1.2.1 Items
    • 1.2.1 Samples
  • 1.3. Descriptives
    • 1.3.1 Means, SD, Range, & SE
    • 1.3.2 Proportions
    • 1.3.3 Distributions
    • 1.3.4 Correlations
  • 1.4 Demographics
    • 1.4.1 Social Class
    • 1.4.2 Gender
    • 1.4.3 Age
    • 1.4.4 Education
    • 1.4.5 Income Levels
    • 1.4.6 Ethnicity
    • 1.4.7 Occupation
    • 1.4.8 Area
    • 1.4.9 Religious Affiliation
  • 1.5 Political Behavior
    • 1.5.1 Political Orientation
    • 1.5.2 Religiosity
    • 1.5.3 Religiosity & Political Orientation
    • 1.5.4 Candidate Preferences
    • 1.5.5 Party Preferences
    • 1.5.6 Voting
    • 1.5.7 Party Identity
    • 1.5.8 Voting & Party Identity
    • 1.5.9 Likeability
    • 1.5.10 Trump’s Likebility
    • 1.5.11 Clinton’s Likebility
    • 1.5.12 Johnson’s Likebility
  • 1.6 Politico-Psychological correlates of Gun Control
    • 1.6.1 Ideology and Partisanship & Gun Control
    • 1.6.2 Nationalism, Nativism, Patriotism, Populism, and Conspiracies
    • 1.6.3 Political Psychology & Gun Control
    • 1.6.4 Values & Gun Control
    • 1.6.5 Positive and Negative correlates of Gun Control

1.2 Study Characteristics


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 Descriptives

1.3.1 Means, SD, Range, & SE


Descriptives for Gun Control Items
vars n mean sd min max range se
Repeal.GC 1 2119 5.10 2.96 1 9 8 0.06
Gun.ownership 2 2119 4.04 2.87 1 9 8 0.06
GC.Not.strict 3 2119 5.07 3.12 1 9 8 0.07
Mean 4 2119 4.74 2.63 1 9 8 0.06

1.3.2 Proportions





1.3.3 Distributions


1.3.4 Correlations







1.4 Demographics

1.4.1 Social Class





Figure X. Gun Control as grouped by SES

Figure X. Gun Control as grouped by SES




Gun Control as grouped by SES
SES N Mean SD
Middle Middle Class 910 -0.10 0.99
Lower Middle Class 287 0.01 0.93
Upper Middle Class 683 0.03 1.02
Poor 36 0.04 0.80
Rich 203 0.30 1.06

1.4.2 Gender




Figure X. Gun Control as grouped by Gender

Figure X. Gun Control as grouped by Gender





Gun Control as grouped by Gender
Gender N Mean SD
Male 1664 -0.03 1.01
Female 455 0.10 0.97

1.4.3 Age





Figure X. Gun Control as grouped by Age

Figure X. Gun Control as grouped by Age





Gun Control as grouped by Age
Age N Mean SD
55-64 years 77 -0.06 1.06
18-24 years 192 -0.02 0.91
65+ 1257 -0.02 1.04
25-34 years 293 -0.01 0.95
35-44 years 242 0.10 0.90
45-54 years 58 0.15 1.06

1.4.4 Education





Figure X. Gun Control as grouped by Education

Figure X. Gun Control as grouped by Education





Gun Control as grouped by Education
Education N Mean SD
High-school 321 -0.12 0.98
Some college 856 -0.09 0.96
Bachelor 506 -0.01 1.01
Less than High-school 22 0.04 0.68
Graduate 414 0.28 1.06

1.4.5 Income Levels





Figure X. Gun Control as grouped by Income Levels

Figure X. Gun Control as grouped by Income Levels





Gun Control as grouped by Income Levels
Income Levels N Mean SD
$35,000-$49,999 305 -0.12 0.98
$25,000-$34,999 235 -0.11 1.02
$50,000-$74,999 450 -0.06 0.98
Less than $15,000 215 0.03 0.89
$75,000-$99,999 316 0.04 1.03
$100,000-$149,999 252 0.05 1.00
$15,000-$24,999 171 0.08 1.00
$150,000 + 175 0.25 1.09

1.4.6 Ethnicity





Figure X. Gun Control as grouped by Ethnicity

Figure X. Gun Control as grouped by Ethnicity





Gun Control as grouped by Ethnicity
Ethnicity N Mean SD
Caucasian/European origin 1820 -0.04 1.01
Native American 20 0.03 0.98
Other 39 0.06 1.00
Latino 87 0.23 0.82
Black/African America 107 0.36 0.87
Asian/Pacific Islander 46 0.40 0.76

1.4.7 Occupation





Figure X. Gun Control as grouped by Occupation

Figure X. Gun Control as grouped by Occupation





Gun Control as grouped by Occupation
Occupation N Mean SD
Full-time caregiver 19 -0.11 0.98
Parent 69 -0.11 0.99
Retired 1024 -0.04 1.03
Unemployed 115 0.01 1.00
Employed 676 0.04 0.98
Disabled 74 0.08 0.97
Student 142 0.09 0.88

1.4.8 Area





Figure X. Gun Control as grouped by Area

Figure X. Gun Control as grouped by Area





Gun Control as grouped by Area
Area N Mean SD
Rural 753 -0.24 0.98
Urban 1366 0.13 0.98





1.4.9 Religious Affiliation





Figure X. Gun Control as grouped by Religious Affiliation

Figure X. Gun Control as grouped by Religious Affiliation





Gun Control as grouped by Religious Affiliation
Religious Affiliation N Mean SD
Christian 1497 -0.18 0.96
No religion 203 0.18 0.90
Muslim 11 0.49 0.85
Atheist/Agnostic 290 0.50 0.99
Jewish 118 0.76 0.87


1.4.10 Summary

1.5 Political Behavior

1.5.1 Political Orientation

Figure X. Gun Control & Political Orientation

Figure X. Gun Control & Political Orientation