A recent study published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences reveals that across all political and social groups in the United States, there is a strong preference against living near AR-15 rifle owners and neighbors who store guns outside of locked safes. This surprising consensus suggests that when it comes to immediate living environments, Americans’ views on gun control may be less divided than the polarized national debate suggests.
The research was conducted against a backdrop of increasing gun violence and polarization on gun policy in the United States. The United States has over 350 million civilian firearms and gun-related incidents, including accidents and mass shootings, have become a leading cause of death in the country. Despite political divides, the new study aimed to explore whether there’s common ground among Americans in their immediate living environments, focusing on neighborhood preferences related to gun ownership and storage.
So how about all those handgun owners that actually commit crimes? Like Chicago? AR-15s and other rifles are less likely to be used in a crime vs handguns. And how exactly does anyone know how another person stores their firearms in their homes? Pretty sure none of my neighbors in the past two decades have a clue as to what firearms I own, much less where my firearms are stored.
lol… this is just outright silly.
I agree that it doesn’t make much statistical sense to feel safer with a hand gun owning neighbor than a rifle owning neighbor, which is what the survey seems to say.
I think it’s really telling us something about the branding of this particular firearm (and its stereotypical owner).