Do Veterans Oppose Gun Control? Evidence from the Guns in American Life Survey

• In Event: Guns and Gun Control

Abstract

Do veterans of the U.S. armed forces, a population with unique knowledge of and experience with guns, oppose or support contemporary gun control policies and proposals? While veterans are commonly (and problematically) assumed to be conservatives and Republicans, an emerging body of work has begun to explore the complexities of their policy opinions, partisanship, and voting behaviors. Such work provides needed nuance about this symbolically and politically important group. Our paper builds on such efforts by analyzing the Guns in American Life Survey (2018), which was conducted by two of the authors and contains over three thousand observations and an oversample of gun owners. The survey asks a variety of questions about the respondents’ military experiences and a range of questions about policies that expand and restrict gun ownership and possession. The paper will test whether veterans (with combat and non-combat experiences), family members of veterans, and non-veterans have different perspectives, even after taking into account factors such as gun ownership. We will also explore the attitudes of female and minority veterans, populations that are sometimes overlooked in veteran research. Our preliminary analysis indicates that many veterans, as well as family members of veterans, are willing to restrict civilian access to high-powered and high-capacity weapons. On the other hand, veterans are uniquely supportive of expanding the gun carrying rights of civilians. Taken together, these initial findings appear to reflect a veteran population that is positively disposed toward guns in general but also understands the destructive power of “assault-style” weapons.

Authors

• David L. Leal, University of Texas at Austin

• Christopher G. Ellison, University of Texas at San Antonio

• Margaret S. Kelley, University of Kansas

• Pablo E. Gonzalez, UTSA