TWO IN FIVE men in America own a firearm. Maybe that number scares the hell out of you. Maybe it brings you a sense of comfort. But while plenty has been said about who should own a gun, what kind they can buy, and where they can carry it, we wanted to know why.
What drives a man to own a gun? How does it make him feel? And when gun violence strikes, how do male gun owners react emotionally? After surveying 1,211 men who own guns from across the U. S., we found that the link between men, mental health, and gun ownership was far from black-and-white—or even red-and-blue.
Below you’ll find our 10 most striking findings from the survey (you can see the full results here). Call them bullet points.
1. There are two main reasons men own a gun: hunting and protection.
MAYBE UNSURPRISING, BUT consider that those reasons depend a lot on when men first fire a gun. Guys who grew up with guns are a lot more likely to own one (or more!) for hunting; guys who came to guns later in life are more interested in protection.
For males who reported first firing a gun before they turned 18 years of age, 57 percent of them now own a gun primarily for protection. Thirty-five percent reported owning guns primarily for hunting.
Now for men who reported first firing a gun between the ages of 18 and 24, those numbers shift. Those who own a gun primarily for protection jumps to 79 percent, and hunting drops to 15 percent.
2. Men who own just one gun are more likely to use that gun in a dangerous way than men who own more guns.
THINK A GUY who owns more guns is more dangerous than a guy with fewer guns? Think again.
Men who own one gun reported a. . .
- 2x higher rate of having fired a gun in anger
- 50% higher rate of having fired a gun in fear
- 60% higher rate of having threatened someone with a gun
- 25% higher rate of having injured someone with a gun
. . . than men who own four-plus.
3. There are stark differences in gun ownership between political parties.
BUT MAYBE NOT in the ways you think. You know the media narrative about the gun-crazed G.O.P.? Turns out it’s kind of right. In our survey, republican gun owners were more likely to own four-plus guns than democrat gun owners were. While 28 percent of republican respondents reported owning four or more guns, only 15 percent of democrats did. For comparison, 27 percent of republican respondents reported owning just one gun, while 45 percent of democrats did.
But differences go beyond just number of guns owned. Male republican gun owners are also less likely than democrats to engage in risky gun behavior. Here’s what that means:
When We Asked Survey Respondents:
“Have you ever fired a gun in anger?”
- Democrats: 16% Yes
- Republicans: 10% Yes
“Have you ever threatened someone with a gun?”
- Democrats: 18% Yes
- Republicans: 11% Yes
“Have you ever used a gun to get what you want?”
- Democrats: 13% Yes
- Republicans: 6% Yes
4. Yet male Democrat and Republican gun owners do share (some) common ground.
FROM ACROSS OF a wide range of topics, too.
That includes gun ownership as it relates to family. Both 81 percent of Democrat and Republican respondents reported that, growing up, at least one family member owned a gun. Ninety-five percent of Democrat and 98 percent of Republican respondents reported that their own family and friends know that they own a gun.
That also includes mental health. Ninety-four percent of Democrat and 96 percent of Republican respondents reported that their mental health has improved or stayed the same since owning a gun. And 81 percent of both parties reported feeling safer owning a gun.
Even emotionally there are similarities. When asked how mass shootings made them feel, more than 75 percent of both Democrat and Republican respondents reported feeling primarily sad or angry.
And speaking of anger…
5. Men who primarily own an AK-47 tend to be the angriest gun owners.
TWICE AS MANY AK-47 owners reported firing a gun in anger compared with men who own a revolver or a shotgun.
And, on the topic of assault rifles, twice as many men who primarily own AK-47’s or AR-15’s reported feeling “indifferent” after hearing news of a mass shooting compared with those who own other guns.
6. Some men reported feeling all kinds of things when their gun wasn’t around.
ROUGHLY ONE IN FIVE of all surveyed reported feeling anxious, worried, or inadequate when their gun wasn’t in reach. Interesting, right?
What’s also interesting:
7. Roughly one in five men strongly or somewhat agreed that owning a gun makes them “feel like more of a man.”
HERE’S HOW THE numbers broke down:
- 34% Neither agree nor disagree that owning a gun makes me feel like more of a man
- 29% Strongly disagree
- 14% Somewhat disagree
- 12% Somewhat agree
- 11% Strongly agree
These findings might be related to those in the section before.
“If you believe that for some reason, real or perceived, you are vulnerable or under threat and you do something that is going to mitigate that risk, then, yes, you might feel better about things,” says Amy Barnhorst, M.D., vice chair of community mental health at UC Davis Health and director of BulletPoints, a project that provides tools to clinicians for firearm-injury prevention. “And if a man imagines himself up against a threat and he doesn’t have the confidence in his ability to protect himself or his family alone, a gun is a great equalizer.”
8. Men who felt more masculine because they own a gun were more likely to use a gun.
MEN WHO STRONGLY AGREED with the statement “owning a gun makes me feel more like a man” reported a . . .
- 13x higher rate of having fired a gun in anger
- 6x higher rate of having injured someone with a gun
- 4x higher rate of having threatened someone with a gun
. . . than men who strongly disagreed.
One possibility for this link between guns and masculinity: Men who derive a feeling of masculinity from their gun may use it in an aggressive or dangerous way to compensate for a sense of powerlessness.
9. Gun owners had a dark view of the world.
WHEN WE ASKED men to respond to the statement, “We live in a dangerous world,” the majority of them agreed.
- 51% Strongly agree
- 32% Somewhat agree
- 12% Neither agree nor disagree
- 3% Somewhat disagree
- 2% Strongly disagree
Yet when it comes to their personal state of mind…
10. Most men said that their mental health has stayed the same or improved since owning a gun.
ONLY THREE PERCENT of survey respondents reported that their mental health had gotten worse after they owned a gun. Sixty-four percent said their mental health hadn’t changed and 31 percent said it had improved. (Two percent weren’t sure.)
There are mental-health benefits to responsible gun ownership, Dr. Barnhorst says: ties to family heritage, connection to a gun-owning community, the fun of going to a range or hunting with friends, feeling safer.
But there are also mental-health risks. “When a gun becomes part of your psyche, that’s where we see the potential for risk,” Dr. Barnhorst says. “The majority of gun deaths in the U. S. are suicides that tend to happen in the quiet of people’s homes, often with a cloak of secrecy around them, so people don’t know how often they happen.”
The goal, Dr. Barnhorst says, is not to take the approach that guns are bad and that people shouldn’t have them. But it’s also important not to overvalue a gun’s ability to make you more of anything. People who are focused on the risks don’t see the benefits of gun ownership, Dr. Barnhorst says—and vice versa.
See full survey results here
METHODOLOGY: Men’s Health conducted this survey of 1,211 men over age 18 in the United States who owned a gun. The data-collection period spanned from April 15 to April 29, 2024. The survey was distributed to individuals using SurveyMonkey, Inc., San Mateo, California. www.surveymonkey.com
Read the full article here
