Who owns guns?
The answer may surprise you
This week, Dr. Pierre Atlas, 97Percent’s newest advisory board member, tells us what brought him to 97Percent, and why the faces of gun ownership in the U.S. are more diverse than Americans are led to believe.
I was doing some online research on gun-related interest groups for my Gun Culture and Policy class at the O’Neill School of Public and Environmental Affairs at Indiana University Indianapolis and came across 97Percent. I had never heard of the organization, but as I perused the website, I came to realize that I personally aligned with the organization’s positions and policy recommendations for reducing gun violence.
What attracted me to 97Percent was its practical and pragmatic approach, devoid of the ideological positioning and grandstanding that I see in many gun reform and gun rights groups today. So I reached out to 97Percent, introduced myself, and shared some of my writings on the subject.
Although there is a deep partisan and ideological divide in this country when it comes to guns—fueled and exacerbated by interest groups on both sides—I have long believed that one thing most Americans (gun owners and non-gun owners alike) can agree on is the need to reduce America’s horrific (and globally unique) number of gun deaths and nonfatal shootings each year.
You wouldn’t know it from the heated rhetoric on guns, but not all gun owners and not all people who support gun rights are “angry white conservatives.” As with many issues, the loudest and most extreme views and actors tend to get the lion’s share of attention when it comes to guns and gun rights. But there are many responsible gun owners who are politically centrist or even liberal on other issues, and there are many people of color who are gun owners—and these folks live in urban and suburban areas as well as rural areas and small towns.
It is estimated that guns can be found in about 40-45% of American households, but fewer than 5 million Americans are NRA members (which is by far the nation’s largest pro-gun group). Put differently, the vast majority of gun owners are not affiliated with pro-gun interest groups, and I would suggest that at least some of those gun owners share many of the political and social views of people who would never own a gun.
Most if not all gun owners would like to see a significant reduction in the number of gun deaths—suicides as well as homicides—and accidental and nonfatal shootings. I suggest there is an untapped “silent majority” of gun owners out there that non-gun owners need to engage with to try to reach common ground on a range of reasonable and practical policies. The question is, how do we get there from here? That’s exactly the question 97Percent addresses. I’m glad to be on board. —Pierre Atlas, 97Percent Advisory Board Member.
