The Protestant Heritage and the Spirit of Gun Ownership

Bibliographic Data

ID2514901
AuthorsRobert L Young (0000-0001-5623-7195, corresponding author)
Year1989
Volume28
Issue3
Pages300
Publication date1989-09-01
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessNo
TypeARTICLE
VenueJournal for the Scientific Study of Religion (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 0021-8294 • E-ISSN: 1468-5906
PublisherJSTOR (PUBLISHER)
DOI10.2307/1386741
OpenAlexW2062451456
LanguageEN
Citations received10
References cited14

Previous research has revealed a strong and persistent positive correlation between Protestant affiliation and the ownership of firearms. Utilizing data from the NORC General Social Survey, this paper proposes and tests two possible explanations - one religious and one cultural - for this relationship. The analysis lends primary support to the cultural model. In part, Protestants are more likely to own guns because, as a result of growing up in the rural South, they are more likely to hunt. Among non-hunters, the association between religious faith and gun ownership can be explained by the interaction of a frontier ethnic heritage with rural socialization and religious fundamentalism. One of the most persistent findings in the literature on civilian gun ownership is that, even in the context of a variety of control variables, Protestants are more likely than those of other religious faiths to own guns (O'Connor & Lizotte, 1978; Stinchcombe et aL, 1980; Wright & Marston, 1975; Young, 1986). Although both the strength and the persistence of this relationship suggest an important role for religious affiliation in understanding firearm ownership, empirical studies of this connection remain conspicuously absent from the literature (Wright et al., 1983). This research is designed to investigate systematically the nature of that relationship and in the process perhaps to enhance our understanding of the more general relationship between religious beliefs and secular practices. Williams et aL (1981), contend that the correlation between religious faith and gun

Art · Political science · Politics · Protestant work ethic · Protestantism · Sociology · Crime Patterns and Interventions · Gun Ownership and Violence Research · History · Law · Philosophy · Religious studies · Suicide and Self-Harm Studies