title: Gun ownership and social gun culture.
abstract: We assessed gun ownership rates in 2013 across the USA and the association between exposure to a social gun culture and gun ownership. We used data from a nationally representative sample of 4000 US adults, from 50 states and District of Columbia, aged >18 years to assess gun ownership and social gun culture performed in October 2013. State-level firearm policy information was obtained from the Brady Law Center and Injury Prevention and Control Center. One-third of Americans reported owning a gun, ranging from 5.2% in Delaware to 61.7% in Alaska. Gun ownership was 2.25-times greater among those reporting social gun culture (PR=2.25, 95% CI 2.02 to 2.52) than those who did not. In conclusion, we found strong association between social gun culture and gun ownership. Gun cultures may need to be considered for public health strategies that aim to change gun ownership in the USA.
authors.affiliation: Department of Epidemiology, Mailman School of Public Health, Columbia University, New York, New York, USA.
authors.forename: Bindu
authors.identifier: 0000-0002-6543-2774
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Kalesan
authors.affiliation: Department of Epidemiology, Mailman School of Public Health, Columbia University, New York, New York, USA.
authors.forename: Marcos D
authors.initials: MD
authors.lastname: Villarreal
authors.affiliation: Department of Epidemiology, Mailman School of Public Health, Columbia University, New York, New York, USA.
authors.forename: Katherine M
authors.initials: KM
authors.lastname: Keyes
authors.affiliation: School of Public Health, Boston University, Boston, Massachusetts, USA.
authors.forename: Sandro
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Galea
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D003469:Culture; D005389:Firearms / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D006801:Humans; D008004:Licensure; D010067:Ownership / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D011050:Policy Making; D012928:Social Desirability; D012959:Socioeconomic Factors; D013561:Symbolism; D014481:United States