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Support for Gun Control: the Influence of Personal, Sociotropic, and Ideological Concerns1

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  • 1

    This paper was originally presented at the Midwestern Association of Public Opinion Research, Chicago, IL, on November 20, 1982. The authors would like to thank Walter Gantz and Donald Kinder for comments on that presentation.

Requests for reprints should be sent to Dr. Tom R. Tyler, Department of Psychology, Northwestern University, Kresge Centennial Hall, Evanston, IL 60201.

Abstract

Two random telephone surveys were conducted-one in Evanston, Illinois and one in Morton Grove, Illinois-to assess the motivations underlying public support for handgun control. The data from both surveys suggested that such support was linked most strongly to citizen beliefs about the effect of a handgun ban on the overall crime rate. Little support was found for either the suggestion that gun control opposition is linked to concerns about personal protection against crime or for the suggestion that views about gun control are part of a more general ideological orientation.

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Article Information

DOI

10.1111/j.1559-1816.1983.tb01747.x

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  1. 1Kevin H. Wozniak, Public Opinion About Gun Control Post–Sandy Hook, Criminal Justice Policy Review, 2017, 28, 3, 255CrossRef
  2. 2David Fortunato, Can Easing Concealed Carry Deter Crime?*, Social Science Quarterly, 2015, 96, 4, 1071Wiley Online Library
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  4. 4Eric Primm, Robert M. Regoli, John D. Hewitt, Race, Fear, and Firearms: The Roles of Demographics and Guilt Assuagement in the Creation of a Political Partition, Journal of African American Studies, 2009, 13, 1, 63CrossRef
  5. 5Gary Kleck, Marc Gertz, Jason Bratton, Why do people support gun control?: Alternative explanations of support for handgun bans, Journal of Criminal Justice, 2009, 37, 5, 496CrossRef
  6. 6The Psychology of Media and Politics, 2005, 257CrossRef
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  8. 8Lily D. McNair, James A. Carter, Michelle K. Williams, Self-esteem, gender, and alcohol use: Relationships with HIV risk perception and behaviors in college students, Journal of Sex & Marital Therapy, 1998, 24, 1, 29CrossRef
  9. 9Linda Heath, Kyle Weeks, Marie Mackay Murphy, Gun Attitudes and Fear of Crime, Journal of Offender Rehabilitation, 1997, 25, 3-4, 147CrossRef
  10. 10GARY KLECK, Crime, Culture Conflict and the Sources of Support for Gun Control, American Behavioral Scientist, 1996, 39, 4, 387CrossRef
  11. 11G A Mauser, M Margolis, The Politics of Gun Control: Comparing Canadian and American Patterns, Environment and Planning C: Government and Policy, 1992, 10, 2, 189CrossRef
  12. 12David O. Sears, Carolyn L. Funk, Advances in Experimental Social Psychology Volume 24, 1991, 24, 1CrossRef
  13. 13Philip E. Secret, James B. Johnson, Racial differences in attitudes toward crime control, Journal of Criminal Justice, 1989, 17, 5, 361CrossRef
  14. 14Kenneth A Rasinski, Susan M. Rosenbaum, Predicting Citizen Support of Tax Increases for Education: A Comparison of Two Social Psychological Perspectives, Journal of Applied Social Psychology, 1987, 17, 11, 990Wiley Online Library