Objective:
To examine whether US military service members endorse greater openness to safe firearm storage depending on the content of the visual message they are randomly assigned to view.
Methods:
Inclusion criteria included current membership in the US military and current firearm ownership. The KP sample was fielded from December 3 to 31, 2021, with a 76% completion rate and 45 individuals determined to be qualified (28% qualification rate). The opt-in sample was fielded by Ipsos and their partner organizations from December 7, 2021, through January 4, 2022, with 699 individuals (3%) meeting the inclusion criteria. Of the 699 qualified opt-in participants, 674 were included in the final data set, with 25 removed based on responses to a low base rate free response item, resulting in a final sample size of 719. Demographic characteristics, including race and ethnicity, were self-reported in the survey by participants. Race and ethnicity data are collected routinely in KP profiles and were analyzed in this study to assess whether and how various aspects of identity may be associated with differing responses to various messages on safe firearm storage. All analyses, including sample descriptives, are based on weighted data. Only participants who did not endorse already storing their firearms safely (n = 367) were included in the analyses.
Project Status:
Completed
Principal Investigators:
Michael Anestis PhD, Craig J Bryan PhD, Daniel W Capron PhD