A new study has found that Americans, including traditionally pro-gun groups, are averse to living near AR-15 owners and neighbors who store guns insecurely. This consensus highlights potential local-level agreement on gun safety practices.

A recent study published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences reveals that across all political and social groups in the United States, there is a strong preference against living near AR-15 rifle owners and neighbors who store guns outside of locked safes. This surprising consensus suggests that when it comes to immediate living environments, Americans’ views on gun control may be less divided than the polarized national debate suggests.

The research was conducted against a backdrop of increasing gun violence and polarization on gun policy in the United States. The United States has over 350 million civilian firearms and gun-related incidents, including accidents and mass shootings, have become a leading cause of death in the country. Despite political divides, the new study aimed to explore whether there’s common ground among Americans in their immediate living environments, focusing on neighborhood preferences related to gun ownership and storage.

  • Kecessa
    -5•5 months ago

    I think it’s the fear of what a full-auto AR-15 can do to a crowd compared to a handgun.

    • Snot FlickermanEnglish
      7•5 months ago5 months ago

      Right, but fear isn’t based in rationality. Even after 9/11, we went balls to the wall against “terrorism” but like… the reality was that a US citizen getting killed by a terrorist on US land was less likely than being struck by lightning. So we had a War on Terrorism over something less likely than a lightning strike.

      I’m literally pointing out that handguns cause way, way, way, way more deaths, in general than rifles.

      I understand the fear of a mass shooter, but… it’s just not as likely, and we’ve had a precipitous drop in mass shootings in the last year.

      • Kecessa
        3•5 months ago5 months ago

        Not saying it’s rational, just pointing out my interpretation.

    • root_beerEnglish
      5•5 months ago

      Are fully automatic AR-15s even available to the general public like that? I thought the ones civilians could buy were semiautomatic?

      • CancerMancer
        4•5 months ago

        In Canada? Not legally. In America: no new automatic guns can legally be made for sale. The existing stock of legal automatics requires a special process to transfer from one owner to another, and they are expensive.

      • Kecessa
        -5•5 months ago

        They can be converted and if someone is ready to go and shoot people in a crowd I don’t think they’re too worried about the conversion being illegal.