College Students and carrying firearms, a study.

[zbloxzoid]

I created a form with some basic questions, and I wrote a data analysis. The results were interesting, with most respondents being 18-25. This was originally posted in the 2A discussion forum, but I felt it should be here and also to post the finished paper at the top of the thread.

Thanks, let me know what you think and feel free to share. If you’ve already had a look, thanks, if not that’s cool too.

Copy/paste of document is a post below. Ignore any weird formatting issues.

View attachment datadocument.pdf

 

[zbloxzoid]

Firearms, and the Opinions of
Introduction
Firearms are one of the biggest concerns in the United States of America, and a very
political topic in many such cases. I conducted a small social study in July of 2023 by creating a Google form titled “Would you carry a firearm?” I wanted to find what people said, and why. I have done research on the facts of firearms, on use in crime and in deaths from firearms, and written papers on the subject; however, I have not yet gotten data myself that accurately describes the opinions on the subject of carrying a firearm and analyzed it. This was interesting for me, since I do not like to debate any topic on the subject of opinion only, rather than facts. I am not writing a paper to demean the opinions of the people who filled out my form, but merely to document and question the potential cause for that opinion, and note some correlations in the data that I have collected.
The data I asked for was simple – Age and Gender. The form was opened on July 26th, and it was closed on July 30th. The questions were as follows:
1) Would you carry a firearm? Yes or No?
2) Why or why not?
3) Do you think it is too easy to get a firearm in the United States? Yes, No, or Maybe?
Underneath, there was a text box stating all of the restrictions of buying a firearm from an FFL in the United States – Form 4473 and other reasons to be denied a sale. There was one more question underneath.
4) Did you know all the above? Yes, No, or Maybe?
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Collecting this data seemed to balance any politcial opinion and was short enough that more people would do it. I would not ask anything more personal than age or gender due to the nature of the questions, lest someone thinks a government agency is conducting the form.
Data Analysis
The data collected showed a lot of information that surprised me. There were more
people that responded, and more people responded in a positive way to the question. There were a couple who insulted me, but most gave their honest thoughts and quite a few gave some reasons why they would or wouldn’t. The opinions were pretty even, but the small amount of identifying data I collected told me quite a bit. In total, 53.7% were male, 34.1% were female, 9.8% did not specify, and one person (2.4%) stated they were non-binary. Of these people, 90.2% were 18-25. One was over the age of 49, two under the age of 18, and one in the 26-35 age bracket. Now the part that could evoke two vastly different responses: of the responses with the above data in mind, 63.4% said yes, they would carry; 22% said no, they wouldn’t carry; and 14.6% said maybe they might carry. To me, that is extremely surprising given how many responsees were 18-25 years old, an age where most would be considered anti-gun or at least not interested in them. However, there is more to the questionaire and the results.
The correlation between the asking points of data is also another interesting. Since 88.9% of the people were 18-25, most of the correlations in the data comes from this age bracket. On average, men and women both said they would carry a firearm. Seven of fourteen females said yes, four said no, and 3 said maybe. In men, it is not nearly as split. Of the twenty-two males, all said yes but four – two said no, and two said maybe. Three of five people who identified as
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“other/prefer not to specify” said no, they wouldn’t. One said maybe, and one said yes. In short – both men and women would carry, or are possibly considering it.
The reasonings behind each answer was more intriguing, since the participants got to respond in their own unique way with some telling a story as to why or why not. The people who said they would carry almost all had the same reasonings in common – protection for themselves and others. That is the answer I was expecting from people who checked yes, but some were more specific. A couple stated that location was a factor – whether it be in public or a “unsafe” area of town they were treading in, and another couple of people stated that they would just like to be prepared. One notable comment from a female is she acknowledges her size and weight as a weakness in a potential life-or-death situation, and owning a firearm would make it viable to defend herself. An interesting response was “most people are so it’s damn near unfair for me not to,” which begs the question of how many people in America own guns? The answer is a lot, actually 45% of America (Statista). So theoretically, in a room of a hundred people, fourty-five of them would be gun owners, and a percentage of those fourty-five would be carrying a gun. This brings the question of the people who said they maybe would carry, and most of them said something along the lines of “not sure if I could get one” or “I don’t know if I would need one.” So, they are content with not carrying, but might if they had the ability/felt like it.
People who said they would carry did have a common reason among them, but what about people who didn’t want to carry? Well – a lot had similar reasons, most of them in a differnet wording or context. Most who said no felt that guns never helped, only caused issues, were not necessary, or that a firearm was not within a reasonable definition for self-defense. There were a few comments specific to the laws, whether carrying or buying one. A person said that the ATF Form 4473 and background checks were largely ignored, which would probably be
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false since the repercussions for the FFL (Federal Firearms License) holder are steep. More unfortunately, many mass shootings in the United States are committed with firearms attained legally, which one of the respondents addressed with suggesting thirty-day waiting periods. Currently under the Biden administration, anyone under twenty-one has to wait ten days minimum as a response to gun violence. There were also a couple of responses that directly stated their disdain for firearms, such as “No one in this country deserves to be gunned down by weapons of war for just existing” and “pepper spray should be enough.” To some, all weapons are weapons of war, and no one should have them. A couple people stated that you shouldn’t have them because you are not required to have training, or that police should only have them. A fair judgement – most gun deaths in the United States are deemed accidental due to negligence, and one stated that other countries that do not allow the possession of firearms have lower rates of gun death, which is also true. A couple more were demeaning – and targeting towards people who own firearms or would like to own firearms. The comments were “Wanting to carry makes you look ten times more immature” or “little-boyish” and “trying to indoctrinate everyone in to your totalitarian ways of weapon wielding injustice.”
While people are both for and against the carrying of firearms, I asked out of my own curiosity whether or not it is too easy to attain a firearm in the United States of America, and if they new the restrictions of acquiring a firearm (all the reasons listed on the 4473, reasons you would not clear a background check, and reasons the FFL can deny you beforehand). The answers were about what I was expecting – 56% said yes, 20% said maybe, and 24% said no. While they have voted that way, the answers may not mean the law should change, since I did not ask for any elaboration to that question. Of the 41 respondents, 71% knew all the reasons you would be denied, and only 12% did not. 17% knew some of the reasons, but again I did not ask
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for any specifics. Despite 63% of people saying they would carry, 56% said it was too easy to get a firearm in the United States.
Opinions
Note this section is my opinion, and if you are solely inteested in the data, this section
may be irrelevant to you.
I have a few opinions to add, and some misinformation to clear up, particularly of the
people who are very forward about their opinions against firearms of all types. Many of them are not completely true, or leave out some important information regarding. Firstly, FFL’s ignoring the laws about buying a firearm. Lying on a Form 4473 is punishable by up to 10 years in prison, and selling the gun illegally is a level 5 felony, and a level 3 felony if that gun is used in a murder. Firearms stores are usually not the ones breaking the law; however it does happen, and there are reports of that. When a gun is used illegally, but purchased legally, the FFL operated within state and federal laws because of the Form 4473 and a background check. The issue is the after though, when the crime is comitted. It is unfortunate, but firearms are frequently attained illegally in areas of high-crime and high-restriction, for instance Chicago. Chicago is home to gang violence, and in many cases the young men involved are not eligible to buy a firearm legally.
Another one I want to address is the “weapons of war” comment. While yes, an innocent person does not deserve to be killed by anything for any reason, weapons of war is an extreme. You can argue that all weapons are weapons of war, and most have been at some point, but also keep in mind people in the USA live off of game they hunt on land, and people own “hunting” rifles for not man, but wildlife. Most people do not see a handgun and think war, although that
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can completely depend on the handgun. A Colt 1911 is synonymous with WWI and WWII, while maybe the hot pink Ruger LCP is not seen even as a weapon. The term “weapon of war” mostly applies to the AR15 and derivitaves of that platform, but the form was asking for whether you would carry. You could argue a folding or broken-down AR15 in a backpack is a concealed carry weapon, which it would be, but the central focus was handguns.
One very interesting topic is whether you should have training or not. Yes, I think you should train; however, you should not be required to train. While not truly necessary, it is a good thing. I believe that in terms of defensive use, the average Joe has an 80% chance of winning that fight against a single assailant, provided the gun is being drawn from their body (INGO). I believe with training, a thief willing to use violence, or possibly multiple, you are able to come out of that encounter alive. Since in the USA many people carry and firearms are all over the country, it is unsurprising there are gun deaths – between homicide, negligence, and suicide. One person addressed this, and they are right but left out some important factors. In other countries that don’t allow firearms it is not surprising that there are less gun deaths than the USA, but there is no account for population, guns in the country already, and location. France, for example has a population of sixty-four million people, while the United States has a population of three hundred and thirty-four million, over five times as many. France does not ban firearms, but there are many more restrictions, and significantly less firearms in circulation because of that. In the United States alone there are three hundred and ninety-three million firearms. To argue the US has a higher gun death rate is true – but there are more people, and guns in the US than many other countries. I could argue the same thing with cars – a country that has cars versus a country that does not have cars is going to have a higher rate of deaths due to car accidents and vehicular homicide.
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My last argument for carrying a firearm is a general statement – there is no reason not to. The handgun, or gun, is regarded as the great equalizer, and that should be taken into account. For women, I would almost argue it is more important to be armed. There are vile people in this world, and unfortunately many of them may be hopped up on some sort of drug. There are women and men who can defend themselves with martial arts, and some rely on a knife, pepper spray, or a stun gun or taser, but these are all defenses that have the potential to put you in more danger. Cheap pepper spray is notorious for failing, knives and stun guns require you to get extremely close to an assailant meaning you could be disarmed. It is unfortunate, but many women are kidnapped, raped, and murdered. Men, not so much, but many times a man is the protector in a family, or a relationship. Having any of the above options are not a bad idea – but I would argue they work best while having a firearm as a backup, or to deal with a threat that maybe does not require that level of force. My personal favorite example is the shooting at the Greenwood Mall in Indiana – the mass shooting was ended in twelve seconds because a man was carrying, and shot the shooter. Had the cops been called, it could have been a minute at best, and many more would have perished. We also see situations like Uvalde, where the police made a horrible situation worse and did not act. That was a rare instance of police not taking action in a mass shooting. To me, it only makes sense to take the measures to be able to defend yourself and others from people who would not think twice about killing you. I own firearms because I value my life, and the people in it. I would not be able to defend myself in many situations, especially home invasion, if I was not armed. While some may not feel it is necessary to own and carry firearms, there is nothing wrong with doing so.
In the end, the only person responsible for your safety is you.
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Works Cited
Statista. “Percentage of households in the United States owning one or more firearms from 1972 to 2022.” Statista.com, 2022. https://www.statista.com/statistics/249740/percentage-of- households-in-the-united-states-owning-a-firearm/
BehindBlueI’s. “Random violence stats I’ve compiled.” Indianagunowners.com, 2015. https://www.indianagunowners.com/threads/random-violence-stats-ive-compiled.396940/

 

[bgcatty]

College student with firearms and their proclivity for heavy drinking on Saturday nights is a recipe for disaster. IMHO!

 

[Jaybird1980]

College student with firearms and their proclivity for heavy drinking on Saturday nights is a recipe for disaster. IMHO!

So punish all for the actions of a few?

They don't lose their rights just because they go to college.

 

[Destro]

I'm not reading all that

I'm happy for you though..

Or sorry that happened to you

 

[Mij]

 

[zbloxzoid]

College student with firearms and their proclivity for heavy drinking on Saturday nights is a recipe for disaster. IMHO!

I’m in college and I own two guns. No disaster because I am a responsible adult aware of my actions