A new study has found that Americans, including traditionally pro-gun groups, are averse to living near AR-15 owners and neighbors who store guns insecurely. This consensus highlights potential local-level agreement on gun safety practices.

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.

  • Snot Flickerman@lemmy.blahaj.zoneEnglish
    12·
    6 months ago

    Thanks for backing up my position with the actual statistics. I’m aware of them too but I was too lazy to dig them up. Thanks.

    People should be way more concerned about handguns but mass shootings with rifles get all the attention.

    • ArcaneSlime@lemmy.dbzer0.com
      6·
      6 months ago

      Tbh it’s by design. It’s way easier to scare people with the big black scary call of duty gun and convince them to get on board with that, saying “no pistols are fine but those rifles that function the literal same are the issue,” then later you can try to convince people on the pistols with “actually since rifles only accounted for 500/60,000 gun deaths a year we have to ban the pistols now too.”

    • nilloc@discuss.tchncs.deEnglish
      31·
      6 months ago

      Mass shouting are 3+, but rifle shootings that makes news stories tend to be much higher 5-8+. And often times the rifle shooters are also using a handgun, so it skews the numbers a bit there too.

      But really all guns and especially handguns need better control, permitting, and revocation laws.