Objective:
In two samples of American firearm owners, we examined to what extent the belief that gun violence is a “mental health problem” rather than a “gun problem” is associated with inaccurate beliefs about firearms. In both samples, firearm owners who more strongly believe that gun violence is a mental health problem were less likely to believe firearm access is associated with suicide risk and a greater belief that individuals prevented from attempting suicide with a firearm will simply find another way to die. Such individuals were also less open to storing their firearms more safely in order to prevent their own or someone else’s suicide death.
Method:
In 2 samples, U.S. firearm owners completed a survey on Amazon’s Mechanical Turk. In Sample 1 (n = 201, Mage = 36.79), participants endorsed that gun violence is either a mental health problem or a gun problem. In Sample 2 (n = 308, Mage = 38.47), participants endorsed a degree to which gun violence is a mental health problem or a gun problem.
Project Status:
Completed
Principal Investigator (PI):
Michael D. Anestis PhD, Samantha Daruwala PhD