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In recent decades, U.S. gun rights lobbying groups, politicians, courts, and market actors have sought to responsibilize U.S. consumers to use firearms to address the societal problem of crime. These efforts center an interpretation of the constitutional right to keep and bear arms guaranteed by the Second Amendment as an entitlement for individuals to practice armed self-defense. Using interview and online discussion data, this research investigates consumers' responses to responsibilization for this morally fraught set of behaviors, and the role of consumers' various understandings of the right to bear arms in these responses. Findings show that consumers consider multiple, specific armed protection scenarios and accept responsibilization in only a portion of these scenarios while rejecting it for the remainder. Acceptance is determined by their appraisals of the morality of consumer responsibilization subprocesses. Consumers' understanding of the constitutional right serves as a heuristic in these appraisals, with some understandings leading consumers to accept responsibilization across a much larger proportion of scenarios than others. Contributions include illustrating response to consumer responsibilization as a proportionality; illuminating consumers' active role in appraising responsibilizing efforts; and demonstrating how some consumers come to understand a responsibilized behavior as a moral entitlement. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Introduction Methods Results Conclusions Firearms account for more than half of suicide deaths in the United States (US) and both ownership and access are associated with increased risk of intentional and unintentional injury. Despite evidence linking ownership and access to suicide risk, individuals may be reticent to answer questionnaire items assessing ownership. The current study examined characteristics of individuals who do not provide a response (nonresponders) to a firearm ownership item in a community sample.Data were collected from a cross‐sectional online survey of 10,625 US adults. Univariate and multivariate analyses were conducted to examine demographic, emotional distress, and suicide risk differences across three groups (firearm owners, nonowners, and nonresponders).Nonresponders were significantly younger, more likely to be female and non‐White than firearm owners and nonowners. Nonresponders were less likely to endorse recent suicidal ideation and probable PTSD than firearm owners, but more likely to endorse probable PTSD than nonowners. Firearm owners were significantly more likely to report several correlates of suicide risk than nonowners.Nonresponders may be a unique subgroup with distinct demographic, emotional distress, and suicide risk profiles compared to both firearm owners and nonowners. Implications of these findings for future directions are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Introduction Method Results Discussion Secure firearm storage has been proposed as a suicide prevention method within the military; however, secure storage practices are uncommon. Service members may perceive limited value in secure storage as a suicide prevention tool and threat‐related factors may influence such perceptions.A nationally representative sample of firearm‐owning military service members (n = 719) was recruited between December 3, 2021 and January 4, 2022 to complete a self‐report survey by Ipsos using their KnowledgePanel calibration approach to optimize representativeness.Threat sensitivity was associated with less perceived suicide prevention value across all within‐home storage practices as well as out‐of‐home storage. Defensive firearm ownership was associated with less perceived out‐of‐home storage value. Contrary to expectations, PTSD symptoms were associated with greater perceived suicide prevention value across all storage practices and intolerance of uncertainty was associated with greater perceived out‐of‐home storage value.Perceptions of, sensitivity to, and reactions to threat represent a complicated confluence of factors that may influence firearm views and behaviors in disparate ways. Viewing the world as dangerous and other people as a threat may limit perceived suicide prevention value for secure storage and increase the drive for firearm access. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Introduction Methods Results Conclusions Self‐reliance, emotional control, and honor ideology may prevent help‐seeking when suicidal ideation emerges. Furthermore, these factors are associated with an increased likelihood of firearm ownership and unsecure storage, which could facilitate suicide attempts. The rurality of residence may impact these associations, as rural regions report increased independence, honor culture, and firearm prevalence. Therefore, this study examined how emotional control, self‐reliance, and honor ideology relate to firearm storage and help‐seeking for suicidal ideation, with rurality moderating these associations.Participants were 733 adults (63.6% female, 33.5% male, and 2.9% transgender/other) who reported past‐month suicidal ideation. Analyses tested associations between emotional control, self‐reliance, and honor ideology with help‐seeking for suicidal ideation and firearm storage, with rurality moderating these associations.The association of self‐reliance and decreased help‐seeking willingness for suicidal ideation was significant for those in non‐urban areas. The association of emotional control and decreased help‐seeking willingness for suicidal ideation was significant for those in urban areas. No variables predicted firearm storage.Self‐reliance and emotional control could be barriers for help‐seeking regardless of gender identity that depend on rurality. Clinicians may target emotional control/self‐reliance via strengths‐based approaches with an emphasis on when these constructs could be maladaptive, as this could promote help‐seeking. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In a society marked by liberal gun ownership laws, and an increasingly militarized police force, how should we think about cases where a homeowner shoots a person who has mistakenly knocked on the wrong door, or where a police officer shoots someone who is unarmed? The general tendency – by shooters, courts, and many observers – is to use the framework of self‐defense. However, as I will argue, relying on the framework of self‐defense is inappropriate in these cases, because theories of self‐defensive killing are built up around a very specific type of case, namely, a random, sudden, one‐off encounter between roughly equally matched strangers. When a person who acts in self‐defense has undertaken certain preparations to kill in self‐defense – such as buying a gun, or undergoing certain kinds of training – they transform what would have been defensive violence into offensive violence. But because the self‐defense framework distinguishes only between defensive and aggressive violence, it cannot easily register the unique moral features of offensive violence. Relying on the self‐defense framework, then, produces judgments that are overly permissive of killings by gun owners and police, masking them as self‐defensive when in fact they are much more morally fraught. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Firearms now represent the leading cause of death in U.S. children. Therefore, this study aimed to determine if state-level rates of gun ownership, guns in circulation, and strictness of firearm-related laws are related to firearm-related mortality among both juveniles and overall populations. State firearm mortality rates among the juvenile and overall populations were obtained from 2010 to 2020. The number of weapons registered with the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives (ATF) and federal firearms licensees for each state were also recorded. Giffords Law Center Scorecard Rankings, a relative measure of the restrictiveness of each state's gun laws, were also collected. Unadjusted linear regressions modeled the relationships between firearm-associated mortality and ATF-registered weapons, federal firearm licensees, Giffords Center rankings, and gun ownership rates. Multivariable (adjusted) analyses were performed to control for poverty, unemployment, and poor mental health. Unadjusted analyses demonstrated that higher gun ownership rates and more lenient gun laws were associated with increased firearm-associated mortality among juveniles. Similarly, these measures as well as increased ATF-registered weapons and ATF federal firearm licensees were associated with increased firearm mortality in the overall population. In the adjusted analyses, more ATF-registered weapons, more ATF federal firearm licensees, higher gun ownership rates, and more lenient firearm laws were associated with increased firearm-related mortality in the overall population, while increased gun ownership and higher Giffords Center rankings were associated with increased firearm-associated mortality in the pediatric population. To reduce the toll of gun violence in the United States, policymakers should focus on implementing more restrictive firearm laws and reducing the prevalence of guns in their communities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The spread of suicidal behavior among individuals is often described as a contagion; however, rigorous modeling of suicide as a dynamic, contagious process is minimal. Here, we develop and validate a model-inference system depicting suicide ideation and death and use it to quantify the contagion processes in the US associated with two prominent celebrity suicide events: Robin Williams during 2014 and Kate Spade and Anthony Bourdain, which occurred 3 days apart during 2018. We show that both events produced large transient increases of suicide contagion contact rates, i.e., the spread of suicidal thought and behavior, and a period of elevated suicidal ideation in the general population. Our modeling approach provides a framework for quantifying suicidal contagion and better understanding, preventing, and containing its spread. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Throughout the Pacific Islands, shellcraft has begun to feature prominently in development intervention which aims to generate positive livelihood outcomes for coastal communities. This activity often involves the post-harvest processing of natural assets, namely shells and skeletal remains of marine taxa, into jewellery by individuals or small-sized enterprises. To foster participation in shellcraft, development intervention commonly involves gifting or subsidising physical assets. Yet knowledge of the natural (i.e., taxa) and physical (i.e., tools) assets required for shellcraft remains scant. An understanding of human dimensions in shellcraft pertaining to patterns in asset use, such as how tool ownership differentiates taxa utilised and products produced, is important for determining if access to a specific tool is necessary, or an encumbrance, for achieving a desired outcome. In this study, we identified tools used and variation in tool ownership among artisans engaged in shellcraft to afford an accurate and realistic understanding of the tools required to participate in this activity. We then evaluate how ownership of a specific tool or type of tool differentiates both taxa utilisation and product production for shellcraft. Results indicate ownership of neither all nor any specific tool was required to participate in shellcraft, with artisans typically owning a unique combination of tools. Furthermore, results identified that some specific tools were critical for affecting the attractiveness of utilising certain taxa or producing certain products. Implications of the significant relationships between specific tools and certain taxa or products are discussed in the context of development intervention and commonly articulated theories of change where shellcraft is linked to subsistence fishing, aquaculture, or tourism. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Recent studies have suggested that owning a firearm for the purpose of protection and intending to acquire a firearm within the next year are associated with disrupted cognitive-affective processes that may increase firearm suicide risk. Prior studies were limited by self-report measures and would benefit from the utilization of objective indicators of cognitive functioning to clarify associations between firearm ownership and cognitive-affective states. The present study examined objective cognitive performance in a sample of U.S. adults in relation to firearm ownership variables. Based on prior studies, we hypothesized that protective owners and individuals with the intention to acquire a firearm within the next year would demonstrate reduced performance on decision-making, mental flexibility, and emotional bias tasks. A total of 112 participants (61% female, 79% white) completed objective cognitive tasks following completion of a larger survey study through ResearchMatch. Results indicated that intention to purchase a firearm within the next year was not associated with cognitive functioning but was associated with an array of heightened psychiatric symptoms. Owning a firearm for the purpose of protection was associated with decreased mental flexibility relative to non-owners, but no differences were seen for decision-making or emotional bias. These findings represent the first attempt to examine underlying objective cognitive processes related to firearm ownership, and implications for future research are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Researchers have developed numerous individual differences measures to assess people's endorsement of honor ideology (i.e., beliefs regarding the importance of honor and reputation) with most ranging from 12-36 items in length. Despite having great utility, the length of these measures magnifies the costs associated with survey research, especially in research contexts that use large, representative samples (e.g., health surveys). The present study aimed to develop and validate single-item measures that assess participants' agreement with gender-specific honor prototypes, as well as short-form versions of the honor ideology for manhood (HIM) and honor ideology for womanhood (HIW) scales. An initial sample of participants (N = 879) completed single-item honor prototype measures, a battery of previously validated honor measures (including the HIM and HIW), and measures of constructs previously shown to be related to the dynamics of honor (e.g., aggression, firearm ownership). A second sample of participants (N = 100) completed the new measures, as well as an abbreviated battery of honor measures, to examine test-retest reliability. Results indicated that the new, brief measures were strongly correlated with both the original HIM and HIW as well as several other established honor measures. Moreover, the associations between these new measures and honor-related outcomes were nearly identical to those found with the original HIM and HIW. Our new measures also demonstrated acceptable test-retest reliability, despite being single-item scales. Overall, the present work provides preliminary support for several brief measures of honor endorsement that researchers can use when longer scales are not feasible. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Illicit arms trafficking in Ukraine has been a significant issue since the Cold War, with leftover Soviet stockpiles providing lucrative smuggling routes. With over US$100 billion in aid being provided by the West, a sizeable portion being in the form of small arms and guided infantry weapons such as MANPADS and ATGMs (Masters & Merrow 2023), and accompanying ammunition, Action Plans have been developed conducive to limiting eventual diversion of military aid into the illicit market. What this paper seeks to analyse, is the United States’ ‘Plan to Counter Illicit Diversion of Certain Advanced Conventional Weapons in Eastern Europe’. The plan highlights steps towards limiting illicit arms trafficking such as increased traceability, provision of end-use-monitoring (EUM) capacities and training, intelligence sharing, and capacity building for border management. This paper argues that the current iteration of the United States’ effort to limit arms trafficking, though still in its infancy, has provided some benefit in Ukraine’s efforts to combat the illicit diversion of arms, and could limit the presence of US-made weapons in the illicit arms market, as has been the case thus far. However, this paper does argue that, given the context of lacking institutional accountability, the role of corruption, an inconsistent and incoherent legal framework for gun ownership, as well as lacking coordination with US partners, the Action Plan will unlikely help reform the structural conditions that established Ukraine as a lucrative arms market before the war. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Introduction: The United States (US) holds the highest personal firearm ownership among industrialized nations, with implications for firearm-related deaths tied to increased per capita gun ownership and varying gun laws. This study examines the influence of gun law strength on legal firearm transactions, positing a correlation between stronger laws and reduced transactions. The analysis, focused on the stress-laden COVID-19 pandemic, evaluates handgun, long gun, and multiple gun transactions in 2020 and 2021 compared to 2018-2019. Methods: The Giffords Gun Law scorecard categorized states into the top 25 "strong" and bottom 25 "weak" gun law groups. Multivariate linear regressions assessed the association between strong gun law states and monthly National Instant Criminal Background Check System (NICS) data from 2018 to 2021. The study queried NICS for handgun, long gun, and multiple gun transactions, comparing median monthly transactions in 2018 and 2019 to 2020 and 2018-2020 to 2021. Results: When evaluating gun law strength through multivariate linear regression models, stronger gun law states had fewer monthly NICS transactions for handguns, long guns, and multiple guns in 2020 and 2021 versus all comparison years (all P <.05). However, from 2018-2019 to 2020 and 2018-2020 to 2021, median monthly NICS transactions per 100,000 people for all gun types increased (all P <.05). Conclusion: Stricter gun laws correlated with decreased firearm transactions in stronger law states, yet handgun, long gun, and multiple gun transactions increased during the pandemic years of 2020 and 2021. Therefore, strengthening firearm legislation may be protective against the proliferation of firearms, which warrants further research. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In today's fast-paced society, with a demanding materialistic life, individuals are affected by psychosocial distress and a great hunger for well-being and happiness. As a result of stressful events, the rise of social media, and disconnection from traditions, humans are moving toward a more pessimistic life outlook, as evidenced in the exorbitant increase of suicide attempts. To cultivate a more optimistic attitude toward life, people resort to creative activities like music, dance, reading, gaming, etc. Very few defer to cooking as a creative activity to relieve daily stress and improve psychological well-being. Rooted in the evolutionary experience of humans, cooking is a versatile and engaging activity that requires skills and challenges to create flavorful dishes. Through the theoretical conceptualization of subjective well-being, this study seeks to show how the process of cooking can transform people's attitudes. Cooking is unquestionably an art form that demands meticulous attention. While cooking, the individual performing the task achieves a state of flow, resulting in an optimal experience by absorbing themselves in that task. This study adopts a detailed understanding of Amulya Malladi's Serving Crazy with Curry by portraying the act of cooking as an activity for well-being, happiness, personal growth, and optimal experience. Through the perspective of Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi's flow theory, this paper highlights cooking as an engaging activity that results in satisfaction, meaning and purpose, optimism, and self-determination. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Mass shootings (incidents with four or more people shot in a single event, not including the shooter) are becoming more frequent in the United States, posing a significant threat to public health and safety in the country. In the current study, we intended to analyze the impact of state-level prevalence of gun ownership on mass shootings—both the frequency and severity of these events. We applied the negative binomial generalized linear mixed model to investigate the association between gun ownership rate, as measured by a proxy (i.e., the proportion of suicides committed with firearms to total suicides), and population-adjusted rates of mass shooting incidents and fatalities at the state level from 2013 to 2022. Gun ownership was found to be significantly associated with the rate of mass shooting fatalities. Specifically, our model indicated that for every 1-SD increase—that is, for every 12.5% increase—in gun ownership, the rate of mass shooting fatalities increased by 34% (p value < 0.001). However, no significant association was found between gun ownership and rate of mass shooting incidents. These findings suggest that restricting gun ownership (and therefore reducing availability to guns) may not decrease the number of mass shooting events, but it may save lives when these events occur. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Recent research has indicated an association between both poverty and income inequality and firearm homicides. Increased minimum wages may serve as a strategy for reducing firearm violence by increasing economic security among workers earning low wages and reducing the number of families living in poverty. This study aimed to examine the association between state minimum wage and firearm homicides in the U.S. between 2000 and 2020. State minimum wage, obtained from Temple's Law Atlas and augmented by legal research, was conceptualized using the Kaitz Index. State-level homicide counts were obtained from 2000 to 2020 multiple-cause-of death mortality data from the National Vital Statistics System. Log-linear regressions were conducted to model the associations between state minimum wage and firearm homicides, stratifying by demographic groups. Analyses were conducted in 2023. A 1% point increase in a state's Kaitz Index was associated with a 1.3% (95% CI: −2.1% to −0.5%) decrease in a state's firearm homicide rate. When interacted with quartile of firearm ownership, the Kaitz Index was associated with decreases in firearm homicide in all except the lowest quartile. These findings were largely consistent across stratifications. Changing a state's minimum wage, whereby a full-time minimum wage worker's salary is closer to a state's median income, may be an option for reducing firearm homicides. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the span of ten days, the United States experienced two of the deadliest mass shootings in American history. The first mass shooting at a grocery store in Buffalo, New York, claimed the lives of ten people and left three more injured--mostly elderly shoppers. The second mass shooting at an elementary school in Uvalde, Texas, took the lives of nineteen students and two of their teachers. Another fifteen mass shootings occurred in that same ten-day span in which another ten people died, and sixty-nine others were wounded. There were also 1,300 firearm deaths from homicides and suicides in the same span of time. Policy initiatives that could potentially reduce mass shootings and other firearm violence include universal background checks, assault weapon and high-capacity magazine bans, and extreme risk protection orders. This Article examines these measures from two vantage points. First, if these policies were adopted, would they be effective in reducing mass shootings? Aspirational claims of likely beneficial impacts are less meaningful than insights derived from a track record of policy performance. A detailed examination of the empirical evidence on experience with these policies suggests that the efforts offer substantial promise but differ in their likely efficacy. For example, the performance of extreme risk protection orders indicates that these laws are more effective at reducing suicides than homicides. Universal background checks and bans of assault weapons and high-capacity magazines offer greater potential along other dimensions of gun violence. Second, even if it is possible to identify potentially effective policies, would these policies have sufficient public support to make them politically viable? This Article reports on new survey evidence indicating that there is widespread support among the public at large for each of these measures. Perhaps surprisingly, there is support for these policies even within subgroups of the population that some might expect to be opposed to gun controls, such as people who voted for Donald Trump or who personally own guns. Current political opposition to reform efforts stems from a minority of the populace. Notwithstanding the general public support for gun controls, many elected officials oppose these efforts even in light of jarring instances of gun violence and the sobering statistics they generate. The political response to the mass shootings in Buffalo and Uvalde did, however, provide some evidence of progress. Shortly after these mass shootings, Congress passed the Bipartisan Safer Communities Act--the first major gun control legislation enacted in the past thirty years. This Act includes some beneficial provisions, such as offering support to states enacting extreme risk protection order laws, but it does not diminish the need for the more sweeping measures analyzed here. This Article documents the public support for and evidence of efficacy of policy options that can serve as the basis for future legal reforms. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This research examines the notion of defensive gun ownership using the Dualistic Model of Passion. We hypothesized that an obsessive (vs. harmonious) passion for guns would be associated with a belief in a dangerous world (BDW). We expected this relationship to intensify in threatening contexts, leading to a more expansive view on defensive gun ownership. We tested this hypothesis across three threat contexts: a gun‐control message (Study 1, N = 342), a live shooting simulation (Study 2, N = 398), and the aftermath of the Christchurch mass shootings (Study 3, N = 314). In the experimental Study 1, exposure to a gun‐control message increased the intention to purchase guns among those with an obsessive passion (OP) for guns. Study 2 revealed that BDW mediated the relationship between OP and assertive modes of protection, the desire to purchase high‐stopping‐power guns, and anti‐Black racial bias in a shooting task. Study 3 showed that knowledge of the Christchurch attack intensified the link between OP and BDW, leading to increased support for gun access, a willingness to act as a citizen‐protector, and prejudice against Muslims. Comprehending these dynamics can assist policymakers in crafting messaging campaigns for firearm regulation and public safety measures that are more effective. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this study, we formally examine the association between penis size dissatisfaction and gun ownership in America. The primary hypothesis, derived from the psychosexual theory of gun ownership, asserts that men who are more dissatisfied with the size of their penises will be more likely to personally own guns. To test this hypothesis, we used data collected from the 2023 Masculinity, Sexual Health, and Politics (MSHAP) survey, a national probability sample of 1,840 men, and regression analyses to model personal gun ownership as a function of penis size dissatisfaction, experiences with penis enlargement, social desirability, masculinity, body mass, mental health, and a range of sociodemographic characteristics. We find that men who are more dissatisfied with the size of their penises are less likely to personally own guns across outcomes, including any gun ownership, military-style rifle ownership, and total number of guns owned. The inverse association between penis size dissatisfaction and gun ownership is linear; however, the association is weakest among men ages 60 and older. With these findings in mind, we failed to observe any differences in personal gun ownership between men who have and have not attempted penis enlargement. To our knowledge, this is the first study to formally examine the association between penis size and personal gun ownership in America. Our findings fail to support the psychosexual theory of gun ownership. Alternative theories are posited for the apparent inverse association between penis size dissatisfaction and personal gun ownership, including higher levels of testosterone and constructionist explanations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Over 45,000 gun deaths occur annually in the United States, a country with more than 100 million gun owners and more than 350 million guns. Nevertheless, passing legislation to reduce gun violence is difficult because the issue is intensely polarized. Polls asking about general gun policies (e.g., AR-15 restrictions) demonstrate that, at least in the abstract, Americans disagree vehemently about whether civilians should be able to keep and bear arms. It is possible, however, that a hidden consensus exists in America, which has thus far escaped attention--specifically, that when the focus is on their immediate environments and daily lives, even traditionally pro-gun groups may exhibit aversion to certain types of gun ownership and storage practices. To test this, we conducted two preregistered survey experiments with a large national sample. The first was a conjoint analysis where respondents chose between neighbors (n = 33,596 choices) who randomly varied on seven attributes, including gun ownership (none, pistol, AR-15). No group of respondents, not even traditionally pro-gun groups (e.g., Republicans), exhibited a significant preference for living near gun owners, and every group was averse to AR-15-owning neighbors. The second experiment, per debates about safe-storage laws, was a picture-based factorial vignette that randomized a neighbor's gun storage practices (n = 2,098). Every group of respondents was averse to interacting with a neighbor who stored guns outside of a locked safe. Our findings demonstrate that there is widespread agreement that certain types of gun ownership and storage practices are undesirable for communities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study aims to compare resilience and suicide risk among volunteers and non-volunteers, in response to the growing increase of suicides in the world and in the Ecuadorian context. A quantitative analysis methodology was applied, descriptive in scope and with a cross-sectional design. In addition, data were collected from 288 volunteers from a non-governmental organization and 701 young people who did not volunteer, using Plutchick's Suicide Risk Scale and Wagnild and Young's Resilience Scale. The results indicated significant differences in resilience between volunteers and non-volunteers (p<.001), showing greater resilience in the first group; however, no significant differences were observed in suicidal risk (p = 0941). This would suggest that volunteering could enhance resilience in those individuals who do not participate in volunteer activities, which has important implications for the design of interventions aimed at strengthening resilience in various social settings. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: This study utilized demographic and intrapersonal variables to identify individuals who may have falsely denied firearm ownership and determined if individuals can be divided into meaningful subgroups. Methods: Participants were United States residents (N = 3500) recruited from January to June 2020. matched to the 2010 census data for age, race, sex, income, and education level. A Zero-Inflated Negative Binomial (ZINB) regression was utilized to determine potential underreporting of firearm ownership, and a latent class analysis was utilized to determine unique subgroups of those who were identified as underreporting firearm ownership in the ZINB. Results: Participants (N = 1306) were identified as underreporting firearm ownership (excess zeros) based on a model that included demographic and intrapersonal variables. A latent class analysis indicated that among excess zeros, three unique subgroups exist. Conclusions: Determining who may be underreporting firearm ownership will allow for a more comprehensive understanding of firearm ownership in the US and more targeted safe storage messages that may reach those who own firearms and are at risk for firearm-related injury and death. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Household firearm availability is a risk factor for firearm suicide when a household member at-risk for suicide. Firearm ownership for protection and perceptions of community violence may reduce the likelihood of limiting access to firearms as a way to prevent suicide. The association between a firearm suicide risk belief and the intention to reduce firearm access as a means of preventing suicide, with fear of community violence and firearm ownership for protection as moderators, was examined. The analytic sample consisted of 388 Missouri firearm owners from a cross-sectional, statewide survey of Missouri adults. Logistic regression models were estimated. Among Missouri firearm owners, firearm suicide risk belief was positively associated with the intention of reducing firearm access for firearm owners who were not afraid of community violence and owned a firearm for non-protection reasons (e.g., hunting). Findings suggest that firearm suicide prevention efforts must be tailored to address the underlying beliefs about their violence risk among firearm owners who indicate they principally own for protection. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Conservative political orientation is a strong predictor of gun ownership in the United States. We explore the extent to which this relationship is mediated by two related belief systems: Christian nationalism and Right-Wing conspiratorial thinking. Drawing on nationally representative data from the sixth wave of the Baylor Religion Survey (N = 1,248), we use logistic regression and the Karlson-Holm-Breen method to analyze gun ownership, disaggregated by type of gun and reason for ownership. Christian nationalism and conspiratorial thinking underlie political effects on automatic and semi-automatic guns, handguns, and guns owned for protection, especially among non-Hispanic white respondents. Christian nationalism and conspiratorial thinking are less salient to driving political differences in long gun or recreational gun ownership. Findings elucidate the belief-based mechanisms underlying the societally important link between conservative politics and gun ownership, demonstrating how beliefs pattern who owns guns (and why) in the United States. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Our objective is to expand upon the emerging literature that examines the role of multiple forms of racism in gun ownership and gun control attitudes among non‐Latino whites. While some of these studies, using standard measures of racial resentment, speculate about the color‐coded nature of crime and whether this partially motivates gun ownership, here we specifically consider whether cognitive and apathetic types of racism along with explicit racism are associated with gun ownership and attitudes. In doing so, we advance the literature by using novel measures of racism and focus on generalized racial attitudes, not just anti‐black views. We use data from the Guns in American Life Survey, an online survey using a national sample of adult respondents, and apply regression techniques to assess whether general racial attitudes, including fear of non‐whites, are associated with gun ownership and gun control attitudes net of control variables. The multivariate results suggest that racism, including fear of other races, is not associated with gun ownership. However, cognitive and apathetic indicators of racism influence gun control attitudes for at least some whites. The implications are that racism in various forms needs to be considered in all studies involving gun‐related issues. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, we use data from the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent to Adult Health and latent class analysis to assess the extent to which individuals integrate guns into broader health lifestyles. We also examine how these new health lifestyles differ for men and women. While men integrate guns with a variety of risk‐taking behaviors, including smoking, heavy drinking, risky sexual behavior, and fast‐food consumption, women do not. Our results are consistent with a gendered theory of gun ownership and health lifestyles. On the one hand, some men may use guns and other risky health behaviors to project hegemonic masculinity. On the other hand, some women may avoid guns and other elements of risky lifestyles to signify normative femininity. It is important for sociologists and public health scholars to focus more on how and why men are more likely to integrate guns into generally unhealthy lifestyles. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Gun violence in the USA is a documented public health crisis. Publicly accessible data from Twitter posts can be used to rapidly capture and describe the public's recent conversations about guns. Because these gun-related conversations change rapidly, it is important to provide regularly updated information on them. Twitter posts containing gun-related terms were obtained from January 1, 2022 to June 30, 2022. To understand topics of gun-related tweets (N = 449,492), topic modeling was performed with Top2Vec. Gun ownership control, concern about gun safety and its impact on children and schools, and the Second Amendment were major areas of the gun-related discourse on Twitter. Several identified topics in this study were a consequence of the study period, including "Discourse on Capitol Riots," and "Wartime and Military Use of Guns," with the latter topic containing conversations about the Russia-Ukraine War. Conversations around the influence of the National Rifle Association (NRA) on gun policies and pro-gun ownership perspectives were also part of the public discourse. The intersection between alcohol, substance use, and gun use was infrequently observed. Findings suggest that gun-related conversations in social media such as Twitter can inform public health researchers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article discusses the court case Range v. Attorney General in which the Third Circuit held that there were no historical analogues to stripping a nonviolent offender of his Second Amendment rights. It describes the case filed by Brian Range alleging that his Second Amendment rights were violated when he was banned from owning firearms after his conviction for making a false statement to obtain food stamp assistance. It examines the application of the history-and-tradition test in the case.

Objective: This article considers the influence of female legislators on gun legislation across U.S. states. Females have behavioral differences with males and likely different exposure to gun‐related violence. Method: Using data from 1991 to 2020, we estimate the drivers of gun legislation across U.S. states. The dependent variables are alternately the total number of gun laws enacted and 5‐year differences in gun laws. Results: We find that female legislators in state houses significantly increase the supply of gun laws. Female senators, on the other hand, were no different from their male counterparts. In other results, states with greater population density had more gun laws, while economic prosperity, race, and the elderly population did not generally have significant effects. Finally, when special interest aspects, involving gun ownership, mass shooting episodes, and states with single‐party control of the legislative and executive branches are considered, mass shootings and single‐party control increase laws, while gun owners have the opposite effect. These findings show significance when 5‐year differences in gun laws are used. Conclusions: Our findings suggest that when it comes to gun legislation and female legislator representation, it matters which chamber of the legislature females are elected to. Furthermore, different interest groups can significantly bear upon gun legislation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Supreme Court 's grant of certiorari to review United States v. Rahimi presents the Court with an important opportunity to clarify its 2022 ruling in New York State Rifle & Pistol Association v. Bruen. In Rahimi, the Fifth Circuit expanded Bruen's historical approach to the Second Amendment when it struck down a 1994 federal law, 18 U.S.C. § 922(g)(8), which allowed a court to disarm a person subject to a domestic violence civil protective order. This essay argues that Rahimi offers insight into one of Bruen's potential flaws, and suggests an alternative analysis of Rahimi that helps to remedy this problem more broadly without undermining Bruen itself. Bruen accepted and perpetuated the results of cost-benefit analyses of the Second Amendment performed by ancient legislatures, leaving no opportunity for interest-balancing by modern lawmakers. In deciding Rahimi pursuant to Bruen, the Fifth Circuit focused its inquiry on what eighteenth century legislatures had done with regard to perpetrators of domestic violence, and found no analogue sufficient to support § 922(g)(8). At the time of ratification, no calculation had been made to suggest that the societal interests in curbing domestic violence outweighed the interest of gun ownership. This is largely because lawmakers, and society in general, did not recognize domestic violence or the rights of women as categories of social interest, much less as targets of ameliorative legislative or judicial action. It would be nonsensical, therefore, to go backwards in history and rely upon cost-benefit calculations done by a legislature incapable of fully appreciating the challenges faced or values held by modern society. And yet Bruen, as read by the Rahimi court, would bind modern society to that perspective. To resolve the conundrum, this essay suggests three approaches to addressing the Rahimi issue while still remaining consistent with the Bruen regime. The most specific solution in Rahimi would be to clarify that persons who have perpetrated domestic violence and are subject to a qualifying civil protective order, even before being convicted of a crime, fall outside the community of "law-abiding citizens" whose gun rights are protected. A broader solution to the analytical problem would be for the Court to adjust the relevant historical period to which it looks for analogues whenever a societal failure of the founding period-such as deeply rooted discrimination and exclusion--rendered early legislatures incapable of striking a meaningful balance between the competing interests at issue. Or, relatedly, the Court could permit explicit means-end scrutiny, in the form of intermediate or strict scrutiny, to be applied to modern regulations that are designed to further a societal interest that was grossly undervalued in the ratification era, particularly due to entrenched systems of discrimination or exclusion. These adjustments to the historical approach advanced by Bruen would preserve the legislature's responsibility of meaningfully considering and balancing gun rights with competing social interests. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study aimed to identify the prevalence and correlates of firearm ownership in a large, contemporary, nationally representative sample of U.S. military veterans. Data were analyzed from the 2022 National Health and Resilience in Veterans Study (N=2,326; mean age=60.2 years). Weighted independent-sample t -tests and chi-square analyses were conducted to compare veterans who did with those who did not report firearm ownership on sociodemographic, military, and psychiatric variables. A multivariable logistic regression analysis using backward elimination was conducted to identify the characteristics independently associated with firearm ownership, and a relative importance analysis was conducted to quantify the relative variance in firearm ownership that was explained by each of the statistically significant main effects. Of the total 2,326 veterans, 1,217 (weighted 50.9%, 95% CI=48.0%, 53.9%) reported owning any firearms. Male sex, conservative political ideology, living in rural area, home ownership, cumulative trauma burden, and lifetime history of alcohol use disorder were most strongly associated with firearm ownership. This study provides an updated characterization of the prevalence and correlates of firearm ownership among the U.S. veterans. Results of this nationally representative study suggest that firearm ownership in this group may be higher than previously reported and underscore the importance of targeted suicide prevention efforts promoting firearm safety among vulnerable segments of this population. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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Eekeeluak Avalak, an 18-year-old Inuk wrestler who won the first-ever gold medal for Nunavut at the Canada Summer Games in 2022, dedicated his win to his late brother who died by suicide in 2015. Avalak openly attributed sport – specifically wrestling – to saving his own life. This story raises important questions about the role of sport and traditional games in Inuit suicide prevention strategies. Few studies have examined the role of sport or traditional games in Inuit suicide prevention strategies. In an attempt to reduce Inuit suicide rates, in addition to the National Inuit Prevention Strategy, three of the four land claim regions that constitute Inuit Nunangat have suicide prevention strategies. In this study, we used settler colonial theory, critical Inuit studies, and content analysis to examine if and how sport and Inuit traditional games are identified as prevention tools in these Inuit suicide prevention strategies. The results demonstrate that sport and traditional games have largely been overlooked as protective factors in current Inuit-wide and land-claim specific suicide prevention strategies. Moving forward, evidence-based and community-driven approaches could be funded, created, implemented, and evaluated as culturally-safe Inuit mental health intervention models to address the disproportionately high suicide rates among Inuit in Inuit Nunangat. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Guatemala has one of the highest firearm homicide rates and gun ownership per capita in the world. This paper discusses the extent to which it stands as a case to add to the routine activity hypothesis versus the fear hypothesis. Using a negative binomial regression model, this study tested the relationship between firearm possession and homicide rates in its municipalities in 2018. A new dataset at the municipal level on firearm possession and ownership for 2018 was obtained from DIGECAM. The data were obtained from the National Civil Police and the 2018 Population and Housing Census. The authors found empirical evidence stating that the absence of security, justice institutions, and regional subculture of violence leads the population to use firearms due to fear or perceived risk of self-protection. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Levels of gun ownership and lethal violence in the U.S. far surpass those in any other developed country, and yet, there is little known about the origins of these trends owing to a lack of historical data on the prevalence of gun ownership. To fill this gap, this study extends an existing proxy for household gun ownership rates—firearm suicides divided by suicides—from 1949 to 2020, including new coverage for the 1949 to 1972 period. A novel approach was developed to validate the firearm suicides divided by suicides proxy for household gun ownership rates during a period that lacks firearm ownership measures conventionally used to validate firearm proxies. Historical data were compiled that should be strongly associated with gun ownership trends to test the strength and consistency of the relationship with the percentage of all suicides committed with a firearm between 1949 and 2020. The firearm suicides divided by suicides proxy increased by 45% between 1949 and 1990, the latter representing the U.S.'s peak year for the firearm suicides divided by suicides proxy. Over half of that increase occurred between 1949 and 1972, the period that previously lacked systematic data on gun prevalence rates. Firearm suicides divided by suicides can be used as a proxy for the prevalence of guns among U.S. households at the state level between 1949 and 1972. Unlike most gun prevalence measures that are representative at the national or regional level, this proxy represents household gun ownership trends at the state level and is not reliant on self-reported data that are prone to social desirability bias. This extended proxy represents the longest-ranging data set of state-level gun ownership rates to date. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• Novel recovery technique is as effective as Fry's reagent for removed stamped marks. • Two recovery methods failed to recover laser engraved marks once obliterated. • Inability to recover laser engraved marks from steel plates or firearms. The International Tracing Instrument (ITI) is a document adopted by United Nations Member States in 2005, which outlines challenges faced in the tracing of illicit weapons and offers suggestions to increase the success of tracing operations. A key provision of the ITI states that serial numbers must be recoverable if obliterated. This research, therefore, investigates two methods of recovering laser engraved marks on steel, due to the increase in firearms manufacturing relying on lasers to apply critical markings. This work uses 20 steel plates (CR4 grade), 6 AK-pattern rifle top covers, and a steel pistol slide to investigate the potential for visualising laser engraved marks. All samples had marks applied using a BWM-30F Fibre laser marking machine, in addition to any original manufacture's stamped marks on the pistol. All marks were removed using a grinding belt (plates) and a Dremel® rotary tool (slide and top covers) to average depths of 1200 µm (stamped) and 240 µm (laser engraved). Recovery of the marks was attempted using two techniques to compare the two techniques in their ability to recover laser engraved marks; Regula Forensics® Eddy Current Recovery kit, followed by traditional Fry's reagent. Both recovery techniques recovered 100 % (n = 6) of the stamped characters on the pistol slide, and 0 % (n = 509) of the laser engraved characters on the pistol, top covers and steel plates. Recommendations are made for forensic firearms examiners to avoid attempting the recovery of laser engraved marks using Fry's reagent to preserve the integrity of evidence. It is also suggested that manufacturers avoid laser engraving unique identifying marks on firearms, and to use more permanent methods, such as stamping, to remain compliant with politically binding documents such as the ITI. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article examines how the disclosure of local gun‐ownership information affects property values. Using the sudden disclosure of a gun‐ownership map in two New York counties, we explore how home sellers respond to this exogenous information shock. Our results show that an additional permit holder in the neighborhood leads to a 1% decrease in housing prices after the disclosure. This effect is highly localized in that property values are only negatively impacted by gun‐permit holders within 0.1 mi of the focal property. These findings highlight the negative effect of the disclosure of gun‐ownership information on localized home prices. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]