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Why do Americans buy so many guns? | Opinion
The New Jersey Star-Ledger ^ | February 20, 2022 | By Joye C. Anestis

Posted on 02/20/2022 5:36:40 AM PST by Oldeconomybuyer

Rutgers University professor Joye C. Anestis says there was an unprecedented surge in firearm purchases in New Jersey and across the nation in 2020. New research from the university's Gun Violence Research Center of New Jersey now gives us some insight into why people buy guns.

The proliferation of gun violence in the United States — amplified by this winter’s tragedy in Oxford, Michigan, and the anniversary of Sandy Hook — has led yet again to calls to action for legislation to regulate firearm purchasing. And while legislation, which focuses on who can purchase a firearm, is a vital component in reducing gun violence in America, this narrow focus overlooks the underlying reasons as to why Americans purchase firearms to begin with.

Research affirms the limitations of this narrow focus, demonstrating that psychological factors such as personality, motivation and emotion related to how we experience and interpret the world around us impact many human behaviors including firearm purchasing. Research has previously told us about the demographics that characterize most firearm purchasers: White, male, politically conservative.

But new research by the Gun Violence Research Center of New Jersey, based at Rutgers University, further shows that firearm owners, as compared with non-owners, are relatively less sensitive to fear and more emotionally resilient. However, at the same time, they are also more impulsive and have more trouble controlling emotions like anxiety. This complicated interplay of emotions and personality warrants further consideration and understanding.

Overall, solving a complicated problem like gun violence in America is going to require a multi-pronged approach that considers both who is likely to purchase a firearm and why they opt to do so.

(Excerpt) Read more at nj.com ...


TOPICS: Constitution/Conservatism; Editorial; News/Current Events; Politics/Elections; US: New Jersey
KEYWORDS: 2a; 2ndamendment; alecbaldwin; banglist; defundthepolice; guncontrol; guns; halynahutchins; joelsouza; joyecanestis; marxism; mediawingofthednc; newjersey; nra; panicporn; partisanmediashill; partisanmediashills; rust; rutgers; secondamendment
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The radical gun-grabbing left has adopted “gun violence” as a poll-tested phrase to advance their agenda. It’s everywhere. Don’t fall for it. It’s CRIMINAL VIOLENCE.
1 posted on 02/20/2022 5:36:40 AM PST by Oldeconomybuyer
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To: Oldeconomybuyer

Why do professors buy so many books?


2 posted on 02/20/2022 5:37:52 AM PST by GingisK
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To: Oldeconomybuyer

Because they can and they want to!


3 posted on 02/20/2022 5:38:26 AM PST by Rummyfan (In any war between the civilized man and the savage, support the civilized man. Suppo)
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To: Oldeconomybuyer

Why do marxists kill so many of their own countrymen?


4 posted on 02/20/2022 5:38:35 AM PST by 2banana (Common ground with islamic terrorists-they want to die for allah and we want to arrange the meeting)
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To: GingisK

“Why do professors buy so many books?”

The old dictum of “Publish or Perish.” They buy each other’s books.


5 posted on 02/20/2022 5:40:12 AM PST by ought-six (Multiculturalism is national suicide, and political correctness is the cyanide capsule. )
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To: Rummyfan

..as the expression goes, opinions are like someting else....everybody has one... I agree....I live in Texas; no pdroblem buying guns down here as long as you are eligible...I buy my guns because I CAN and I WANT TO... tell these professorial types to go pound sand someplace where the sun don’t shine.....


6 posted on 02/20/2022 5:41:55 AM PST by TokarevM57
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To: Oldeconomybuyer
There is a big difference between owning a gun for self defense versus using a gun to commit a crime.
Leftists and Gun Grabbers can't seem to tell the the two cases apart.
Or they don't want to.

7 posted on 02/20/2022 5:42:13 AM PST by BitWielder1 (I'd rather have Unequal Wealth than Equal Poverty.)
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To: Oldeconomybuyer
But new research by the Gun Violence Research Center of New Jersey, based at Rutgers University, further shows that firearm owners, as compared with non-owners, are relatively less sensitive to fear and more emotionally resilient. However, at the same time, they are also more impulsive and have more trouble controlling emotions like anxiety.

I call BS on the second sentence. For one thing, it is inconsistent with the first one.

The other is that I have never found gun owners to be an anxiety ridden impulsive group. On the contrary, they seem pretty rational and objective and can see more clearly what is coming down the road than the mind numbed, spoon fed liberals.

8 posted on 02/20/2022 5:42:43 AM PST by metmom (...fixing our eyes on Jesus, the Author and Perfecter of our faith….)
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To: Oldeconomybuyer

we like guns and they are a great hedge against inflation.


9 posted on 02/20/2022 5:43:58 AM PST by mylife (Julie with her open blouse.. her fingers graced the the surface of the sea...)
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To: Oldeconomybuyer

If you use the purchase of a firearm as a proxy for those who are less sensitive to fear then of course your study will conclude that those who purchase a firearm are less sensitive to fear.


10 posted on 02/20/2022 5:44:07 AM PST by Brilliant
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To: Oldeconomybuyer

If I have to explain, it you wouldn’t understand anyway


11 posted on 02/20/2022 5:45:17 AM PST by V_TWIN (America...so great even the people that hate it refuse to leave)
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To: Oldeconomybuyer

I’m an American. Weapons are part of my religion.


12 posted on 02/20/2022 5:45:39 AM PST by Nathan _in_Arkansas (Hoist the black flag and begin slitting throats. )
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To: Oldeconomybuyer

Why do we buy guns? Because we know history.


13 posted on 02/20/2022 5:45:53 AM PST by Hardastarboard (Don't wish your enemy ill; plan it. )
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To: Oldeconomybuyer

I wonder if this professor can answer why there have been so many murders in Jamaica since their Gun Court law was created back in the 1970s (banned all civilian firearms ownership)? Or why the U.K. has seen that good bit more criminal violence since sets of modern gun control laws were introduced in 1967, 1988, and 1997?


14 posted on 02/20/2022 5:47:26 AM PST by OttawaFreeper ("The Gardens was founded by men-sportsmen-who fought for their country" Conn Smythe, 1966 )
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To: Oldeconomybuyer

Canada and Australia.


15 posted on 02/20/2022 5:49:23 AM PST by UNGN
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To: GingisK
Why do professors buy BURN so many books?
16 posted on 02/20/2022 5:49:50 AM PST by JonPreston (Q: Never have so many, been so wrong, so often)
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To: Oldeconomybuyer

serotonin


17 posted on 02/20/2022 5:50:04 AM PST by babble-on
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To: Oldeconomybuyer

A gun is like buying an insurance policy. You’re insured against the coming time when guns will be banned. It’s like taking action to protect yourself because government is subject to the whims of people with purple hair and a degree in Gender Studies. You’ll probably find that people who buy guns are also prepared for storms, power outages, and other natural and manmade disasters. You’ll find we have quite a bit of necessitates stored. We don’t trust that just because things are safe now that they’ll always be safe. You’ll find we know exactly what happened to people, like European Jews, who were not prepared to protect themselves and their loved ones. All of these things are manifestations of highly socialized and protective Alpha people who can and will act to protect themselves and others. What is happening now in Canada and France, for example, could easily morph into what happened in half a dozen other countries that suddenly and brutally killed half of their own people. I think both of those countries are pushing some of the wrong people into a response and they are doing so in the hopes that they can react to that response with prison camps...which almost automatically become death camps. Western civilization is teetering on a precipice and THAT is why people are buying guns.


18 posted on 02/20/2022 5:51:18 AM PST by Gen.Blather (Wait! I said that out loud. Sorry.)
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To: Hardastarboard

Guns are also beautiful and clever mechanical mechanisms. Some like to collect stamps or clocks. The professor needs to go pester them.


19 posted on 02/20/2022 5:51:42 AM PST by GingisK
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To: Oldeconomybuyer

Like Larry Potterfield says, why do womens need so many shoes?


20 posted on 02/20/2022 5:52:41 AM PST by crusty old prospector
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