1. Stigma About Guns 1
SOCIAL STIGMA ASSOCIATED WITH GUNS IN DIFFERENT ENVIRONMENTS
The Social Stigma Associated with Gun Ownership in Urban versus Rural Environments
Katharine Novak & John D. Pierce, Jr.
Philadelphia University
Author’s Mailing Address: John D. Pierce, Jr., Ph.D.
College of Science, Health, and the Liberal Arts
Philadelphia University
4201 Henry Avenue
Philadelphia, PA 19144-5497
Office: (215) 951-2556
Fax: (215) 951-6812
PierceJ@PhilaU.edu

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SOCIAL STIGMA ASSOCIATED WITH GUNS IN DIFFERENT ENVIRONMENTS
Abstract
Previous studies have shown the social and evolutionary growth of concern over the topic of
guns and other weapons; many of these studies have also stated the need for more research
within this field. The present study focused on finding possible correlations between
individuals’ geographical locations, i.e. rural or urban environments, and their opinions about
firearms. Other characteristics that were tested against individuals’ levels of gun acceptability
were gender, state of residence, and whether or not any of the individuals’ immediate family
members owned one or more guns. Twenty-seven undergraduate college students and recent
college graduates completed the survey to test for gun acceptability. The most significant
correlation found was between the state of residence and gun acceptability. Participants were
from five different states, the two most relevant being Pennsylvania and New Jersey. The
participants from Pennsylvania had significantly low gun acceptability whereas the participants
from New Jersey had significantly high gun acceptability. These results provide enough
compelling data to further pursue future gun research.

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SOCIAL STIGMA ASSOCIATED WITH GUNS IN DIFFERENT ENVIRONMENTS
The Social Stigma Associated with Gun Ownership in Urban versus Rural Environments
Firearm ownership and use are highly controversial in today’s society: wielding such
objects can be seen as protection or a threat depending upon both the situation and an
individual’s opinion on their use. The association of a gun as a weapon already creates a
negative visual of the object—weapons are wielded in order to cause physical damage to another
individual. Crime victims are less likely to be physically injured by a perpetrator if the situation
involves a gun—the victim is more likely to surrender to the perpetrator before the situation is
heightened to violence; however, the mortality rate of crimes that involve a gun is forty times as
high as those that do not (Flowe, Hope, & Hillstrom, 2013). Thus, humans’ fear of dying by
gunshot or gun-related injuries, though rational, far outweighs the actual risk. Legislation
regarding gun control in Canada has produced a positive effect on gun-related crimes: although
crimes with guns are still committed, the number of attacks per year has been in a steady decline
since the nineteen seventies. Despite the drop in crime rates in Canada, findings by the
International Crime Victimization Survey show that Canadians report higher levels of the fear of
crime than Americans despite the fact that there is a much higher crime rate in America than in
Canada (Sheptycki, 2009). The fear and hatred that a large portion of the population have is
fueled by the social stigma that guns are bad. The media and other news sources have
graphically shown mass shootings and other gun-related incidents, all of which have created a
widespread stereotype that guns are simply a means to kill another living being. The present

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SOCIAL STIGMA ASSOCIATED WITH GUNS IN DIFFERENT ENVIRONMENTS
study examined different characteristics of individuals and compared these characteristics to
each individual’s acceptance or rejection of gun use and ownership.
The perception of a gun as an immediate threat is a widespread stereotype. Stereotypes
are “an inevitable product of cognitive functioning that allows for prediction of others’ actions in
the absence of individuating information” (Bodenhausen, Jetten, Macrae, & Milne, 1994).
Several studies have examined participants’ reactions to being placed in front of guns in
comparison to other objects (Payne, 2001; Blanchette, 2006; Flin & Mitchell, 2007; Brockmole
& Witt, 2012; Flowe et al., 2013). In one such study, the participants held either a gun or a
neutral object; with these objects, the participants practiced action-perception with the study’s
confederate. When the participant was holding a gun, he or she was more likely to assume the
other individual was holding a gun—in fact, the participant was more likely to feel threatened
enough by the presence of the confederate’s gun that he or she would raise the gun to shoot the
other person (Brockmole & Witt, 2012). A similar study examined participants’ reactions to
evolutionary (spiders and snakes) versus modern (guns and syringes) dangers. The participants
would be faced with a number of objects, one of which was considered a danger. The study
found that the participants would detect the modern dangers quicker than the evolutionary
dangers (Blanchette, 2006).
The stereotypical perception of guns causes individuals to feel threatened, which then
causes arousal that creates more focused attention on the firearm. The Weapons Focus Effect
occurs when weapons attract an individual’s attention because they are perceived as either
unexpected or threatening (Flowe et al., 2013). The Weapons Focus Effect is a perception issue
that armed enforcers such as police officers face on a daily basis. Police firearms officers are
able to perceive and react more accurately if they are correctly expecting the situation into which

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SOCIAL STIGMA ASSOCIATED WITH GUNS IN DIFFERENT ENVIRONMENTS
they are about to enter; if uninformed, then the officers are more likely to make an incorrect
assumption and then decision on how to act (Flin & Mitchell, 2007). A study examining this
behavior had participants interact with pictures of anonymous individuals, some of which were
holding a neutral object and others which were holding a gun. The participants were less able to
accurately describe physical attributes of the individuals that were holding guns. In fact, the
participants would relay false descriptions and be unable to pick the individuals with guns out of
a line-up. This reenacts the arousal hypothesis, a similar theory to the Weapons Focus Effect,
which explains that seeing a weapon causes an individual’s focus to hone in on the weapon and
thus focus less on the individual wielding the weapon (Flowe et al., 2013).
Many individuals do not stereotype guns in a similar fashion to the majority
population—some people believe in their useful purposes, including protecting oneself and one’s
family. Many gun-owners, including parents, keep a firearm readily available in case of the need
to defend themselves or their homes; however, this increases the risk of home-based homicides
(Kellermann & Rivara, 2013). A survey within a study revealed that many individuals perceive
competent male gun-owners negatively, but incompetent male gun-owners less so; and
competent female gun-owners positively, but incompetent female gun-owners less so
(Branscombe, Crosby, & Weir, 1993). Thus, the stereotypes held by the portion of the
population that opposes firearms deem gun use and ownership more acceptable if the gun owners
are more educated on the use and safety codes of firearms.
The purpose of the present study was to examine possible correlations between these
widely-held social stigmas concerning gun use and ownership. Previous studies have placed a
singular focus on correlating, i.e. gender, race, or reaction time, we chose to create a broad
spectrum of possibilities that could create room for narrowing down research in the future. If

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SOCIAL STIGMA ASSOCIATED WITH GUNS IN DIFFERENT ENVIRONMENTS
one or a few of the characteristics being tested against gun acceptability has significant
correlation, then further research could be done to further support the significant correlation. We
hypothesized that the characteristic that would create the most significant correlation with gun
acceptability would be the individual’s environment, i.e. rural or urban geography.
Method
Participants
Participants were 27 undergraduate college students and recent college graduates (13
men, 14 women; mean age=22.37 years, SD=2.115). 13 students were from Pennsylvania
(48.1%), 9 students were from New Jersey (33.3%), 1 student was from Delaware (3.7%), 1
student was from California (3.7%), 1 student was from New York (3.7%), and 1 student was
from Massachusetts (3.7%); 1 student (3.7%) did not provide a permanent state of residence. 12
of these students were raised in a rural environment (44.4%), while 15 students were raised in an
urban environment (55.6%). 14 students had immediate family members who owned one or
more firearms (51.9%), 12 students did not have immediate family members who owned any
firearms (44.4%), and 1 student was not sure if any of his or her immediate family members
owned any firearms (3.7%).
Materials
One survey was used to determine any correlations between the participants’ opinions
about firearms and their general characteristics. The survey that was used was created
specifically for this study. It consisted of 12 questions and statements. The first three statements
required participants to write their ages, genders, and states of permanent residence. The next

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SOCIAL STIGMA ASSOCIATED WITH GUNS IN DIFFERENT ENVIRONMENTS
question asked if the participants were raised in rural or urban environments; the following
question asked the participants if any of their immediate families owned one or more firearms
(yes, no, or not sure).
The final portion of the survey consisted of 7 statements, each followed by a Likert scale
from 1 to 7 (1=Strongly Disagree, 7=Strongly Agree). The participants filled in the
corresponding circle with their agreements along the scale. The first statement concerned storing
guns in one’s home. The second statement concerned individuals not involved in law
enforcement owning guns. The third statement concerned the participant’s desire to own a gun.
The fourth statement concerned keeping a gun in the house as a means for defending oneself.
The fifth statement concerned the strictness of gun laws. The sixth statement concerned the
acceptability of using a firearm on one’s property if one lived in a rural environment. The
seventh and last statement concerned the acceptability of owning a gun if one passed through the
background check and screening process.
Procedure
The survey was administered to current undergraduate students at the beginning of a class
in their respective classrooms. The recent college graduates completed the survey in a quiet
setting while the experimenter was present. Before beginning the survey, the experimenter read
aloud to the students the announcement of their informed consent, which was also attached to the
front page of the survey. The participants were informed that the survey was voluntary, and that
they were not obligated to complete the survey if they did not want to. All participants
completed the survey within 5 to 10 minutes consecutively. All participants were treated in
accordance with the APA code of conduct (American Psychological Association, 2010).

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SOCIAL STIGMA ASSOCIATED WITH GUNS IN DIFFERENT ENVIRONMENTS
Results
Scoring
There was one survey used within this study, and it was created specifically for this
study. The first statement was the participant’s age—the number that the participant wrote as his
or her age was used as is. The second statement, the gender of the participant, was entered
numerically: 1=Male and 2=Female. The third statement, the state of permanent residence, was
also entered numerically. 5 states total were recorded from this survey: 1=Pennsylvania, 2=New
Jersey, 3=Delaware, 4=California, 5=Massachusetts, and 6=New York. The fourth entry, the
question of whether the participant was raised in a rural or urban environment, was entered
numerically as well: 1=Rural and 2=Urban. The fifth entry, the question of whether any of the
participant’s immediate family members owned one or more firearms, was entered numerically:
1=Yes, 2=No, and 3=Not Sure.
The following 7 statements were scored using a Likert scale. The scale ranged from 1
(Strongly Disagree) to 7 (Strongly Agree). Two of the statements (the second and fifth
statements in this section) were reverse-scored—the other five statements in the section favored
gun acceptability, but these two statements were against gun acceptability. Thus, for these two
statements, 1 on the scale was agreeable towards guns while 7 on the scale was not agreeable
towards guns. In order to gauge each participant’s gun acceptability, his or her scores for the 7
statements on the Likert scale were added together to give a total amount of points.
All data were entered and analyzed using the SPSS statistical program (Statistical
Package for the Social Sciences, version 12.0).

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SOCIAL STIGMA ASSOCIATED WITH GUNS IN DIFFERENT ENVIRONMENTS
General Characteristics and Gun Acceptability
The ages of the participants in this study ranged from 19 to 27 years old, with a mean of
22.37 years old (SD=2.115 years). Frequency was used to measure patterns between the
participants—for Gender, State of Permanent Residence, Rural versus Urban Environment, and
Gun Ownership (any immediate family members owning one or more firearm). The results
show an almost equal number of participants across Gender, Environment (Rural or Urban), and
Gun Ownership; the only two States with frequency within the study are Pennsylvania and New
Jersey, thus the other four States are not compared in the final results.
Regression Analysis did not produce significant results.
T-tests were run in order to compare all of the general characteristics against gun
acceptability. Results were not significant for Gender [t(25)=0.59, p<0.561], Rural versus Urban
Environment [t(25)=2.03, p<0.054], or Gun Ownership. The Environment (Rural or Urban),
which was the hypothesized significant correlation, is on the border of significance. The results
that had significant correlation were between Gun Acceptability and the State of Permanent
Residence. The two States used in the final results were Pennsylvania (13 students) and New
Jersey (9 students). The mean score for Pennsylvanian students was 23.6, whereas the mean
score for students from New Jersey was 35.0—thus, a significant difference between the two
States [t(20)=-3.12, p<0.005].

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SOCIAL STIGMA ASSOCIATED WITH GUNS IN DIFFERENT ENVIRONMENTS
Discussion
The results of the present study do not necessarily support the hypothesis that there is a
significant correlation between an individual’s environment (rural or urban) and his or her level
of gun acceptability. There was the possibility of significance since the results were bordering
on significance, but more subjects would need to participate in this study in order to confirm or
deny the correlation.
The measured characteristic that did show a significant correlation with an individual’s
level of gun acceptability is an individual’s State of permanent residence. The students from
Pennsylvania who completed the survey scored significantly lower in gun acceptability than their
counterpart students from New Jersey. These results confirm that more research should explore
the correlations between more geographical locations and individuals’ levels of gun
acceptability. The results from the individual’s Environments (rural or urban) should also be
further studied in order to confirm or deny significance in correlation with individuals’ levels of
gun acceptability.
These findings can support previous work done in regards to firearms, their use, and the
social stigmas associated with them. Several individual’s results correlate with previous studies:
many participants in this study were extremely averse to gun use of any kind. However, there
were participants—most notably from the state of New Jersey—who did not agree with the
generally-accepted social stigmas of the present time. The results from this study that show
support—even enthusiasm—for the use of firearms should encourage more research into the
psychological aspect of firearms.

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The results of this study are limited in more ways than one: the participant pool was
small, which led to less variance in State and Age. These small participant pool also led to
limited data for Gender, Environment (Rural versus Urban), and Gun Ownership. Thus, if more
participants had completed this study, more data would have been generated and thus created
stronger correlations (or lack thereof). The relevance of the relationships might carry into
neighboring college campuses, but would be sure to change based on geography. If the study
would be accessed on a more national level, then the results would be strongest and create the
strongest correlations—the students would be completing the survey and creating variance in
State, Age, and Environment in a way that the presently limited study does not. Despite all of
these limitations, this study is a worthy stepping-stone for future endeavors in this branch of
research.

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SOCIAL STIGMA ASSOCIATED WITH GUNS IN DIFFERENT ENVIRONMENTS
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