Demographic comparisons of gun ownership groups.

There was a large spike in gun purchases and gun violence during the first year of the COVID-19 pandemic in the United States. We used an online U.S. national survey (N = 1036) to examine the characteristics of people who purchased a gun between March 2020 and October 2021 (n = 103) and compared them to non-gun owners (n = 763) and people who own a gun but did not purchase a gun during the COVID-19 pandemic (n = 170). Compared to non-gun owners, pandemic gun buyers were younger and more likely to be male, White race, and to affiliate with the Republican party. Compared to non-gun owners and pre-pandemic gun owners, pandemic gun buyers exhibited extreme elevations on a constellation of political (QAnon beliefs, pro-gun attitudes, Christian Nationalism, approval of former President Donald Trump, anti-vax beliefs, COVID-19 skepticism; mean Cohen’s d = 1.15), behavioral (intimate partner violence, antisocial behavior; mean d = 1.38), mental health (suicidality, depression, anxiety, substance use; mean d = 1.21), and personality (desire for power, belief in a dangerous world, low agreeableness, low conscientiousness; mean d = 0.95) characteristics. In contrast, pre-pandemic gun owners only endorsed more pro-gun attitudes (d = 0.67), lower approval of President Joe Biden (d = -0.41) and were more likely to be male and affiliate with the Republican party relative to non-gun owners. Pandemic gun buyers represent an extreme group in terms of political and psychological characteristics including several risk-factors for violence and self-harm.美国新冠肺炎（COVID-19）大流行的第一年，枪支购买量与枪支暴力事件均出现大幅攀升。本研究依托一项美国全国性线上调查（总样本量N=1036），针对2020年3月至2021年10月期间新增购枪者（n=103）的群体特征展开分析，并将其与非枪支所有者（n=763）以及新冠大流行期间未新增购枪的现有枪支持有者（n=170）进行对比。 与非枪支所有者相比，新冠大流行期间的新增购枪者年龄更轻，男性、白人占比更高，且更倾向于支持共和党。 与非枪支所有者及大流行前的枪支持有者相比，新冠大流行期间的新增购枪者在多维度群体特征上呈现出极端偏高的得分：政治维度（匿名者Q（QAnon）信念、拥枪支持态度、基督教民族主义（Christian Nationalism）、对前总统唐纳德·特朗普的支持率、反疫苗信念（anti-vax beliefs）、新冠怀疑论（COVID-19 skepticism）；平均科恩d值（Cohen’s d）=1.15）、行为维度（亲密伴侣暴力（intimate partner violence）、反社会行为（antisocial behavior）；平均d值=1.38）、心理健康维度（自杀意念（suicidality）、抑郁（depression）、焦虑（anxiety）、物质滥用（substance use）；平均d值=1.21）以及人格维度（权力欲（desire for power）、危险世界信念（belief in a dangerous world）、低宜人性（low agreeableness）、低尽责性（low conscientiousness）；平均d值=0.95）。 与之形成鲜明对比的是，与非枪支所有者相比，大流行前的枪支持有者仅在拥枪支持态度上得分更高（d=0.67），对总统乔·拜登的支持率更低（d=-0.41），且男性占比更高、更倾向于支持共和党。 新冠大流行期间的新增购枪者在政治与心理特征上属于极端群体，其特征包含多项暴力与自我伤害风险因素。