Gun Ownership: Cultural or Situational?

Research on firearm behaviors has primarily focused on the who, what, why and how of gun ownership. Social scientists have long been interested in who gun owners are, what types of guns are owned, why individuals own guns and how these privately owned firearms are handled. Consistency in the demographic characteristics of gun owners has been continually noted in this literature and suggests a cultural transmission of values surrounding firearms. At the heart of the current research is a question about the socialization of gun owners. Do cultural and socialization experiences impact whether or not individuals own guns? Does this remain consistent if we examine different types of owners, such handgun owners versus long gun owners or different reasons for owning, such as protection and sport. Gun ownership is analyzed using data from the National Study of Private Ownership of Firearms (NSPOF) gathered by the Police Foundation and funded by the United States Department of Justice in November and December of 1994 (Cook and Ludwig, 1996). Models have been developed to identify the nature of gun ownership generally, as well as, differentiate between ownership for protection and sport. ..PAT.-Unpublished Manuscript [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]