This video concludes my ongoing series systematizing the dominant academic approach to understanding Gun Culture 2.0, what I call “The Standard Model of Explaining the Irrationality of Defensive Gun Ownership.”
Here I engage the 5th of the model’s 5 points: That something other than objective risk motivates defensive gun ownership.
From a sociological perspective, that something else centers on the discipline’s Holy Trinity: class, gender, and race. From a psychological perspective, defensive gun ownership is a maladaptive coping mechanism.
Links to the first five videos in the series are below.
In this video, I highlight three books by sociologists that focus attention on social class, gender, and race:
- Citizen-Protectors: The Everyday Politics of Guns in an Age of Decline by Jennifer Carlson
- Dying of Whiteness: How the Politics of Racial Resentment Is Killing America’s Heartland by Jonathan Metzl
- Good Guys with Guns: The Appeal and Consequences of Concealed Carry by Angela Stroud
From the psychology side, I discuss two key articles:
- Wolfgang Stroebe, et al., “Is It a Dangerous World Out There? The Motivational Bases of American Gun Ownership”:
- Nicholas Buttrick, “Protective Gun Ownership as a Coping Mechanism”
The previous five videos in this series follow.
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Gun Curious 
I have to question the conclusions or should we say the direction of the studies. I have to say that I have not reviewed the studies my self but based on the general orientation of those in Psychology and Sociology there may be a tend to “prove” their point of view. Being a conservative who has a Master’s in Psychology and a PhD in Information Systems I am an outlier. Pretty much everyone around me has those views and they are like a religion to them. They do not accept that anyone could have a different view unless they are, (insert negative category or categories here). It is an article of faith, not to be disputed. Any effort to engage in discussion results in being labeled, (insert negative category or categories here) and dismissed, or worse.
I do plan on reviewing more closely your postings and the studies themselves when the term ends.
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