Don’t Tread on Us: Public Support for Defensive Gun Use Against the Government

• In Event: Perceptions of Criminal Justice Policy and Practice

Abstract

Most gun owners own guns for protection from crime. Yet there is a long history of rhetoric positioning guns as protection from an oppressive government, and the past decade has seen notable instances of anti-government violence. This study investigates sources of support for defensive gun use against the government, including gun culture and ownership; alienation from mainstream legal and social systems (i.e., legal cynicism, fear of change, and social marginalization); and ideological beliefs (i.e., political ideology, racial resentment, and patriotism). We also consider the role of support for President Trump, who has famously sought to undermine the legitimacy of government institutions. Using a nationally representative YouGov sample (N = 1,225), we find that the predictors of support for defensive gun use against the government are largely similar to those of defensive gun use against crime, and include gun culture and ownership, legal cynicism, social marginalization, political ideology, and racial resentment. A different pattern emerges for Trump voters: support for defensive gun use against the government is unrelated to gun culture or ownership, but is associated with fear of change, social marginalization, legal cynicism, racial resentment, and patriotism.

Authors

• Jason R. Silver, Rutgers University-Newark

• Richard Moule, Jr., University of South Florida