New Study: Nearly 9% of Americans Are Angry and Impulsive, and They Own Lots of Guns

US News • Views: 33,358

I’ve been arguing for a while that the gun lobby’s focus on mental illness as a primary cause of gun violence is nothing more than a diversion from the real issue — the appalling prevalence of guns in the United States, where there are more than 290 million guns in the hands of private citizens.

A new study by researchers from Duke, Harvard and Columbia Universities lends even more weight to my argument, and reveals another disturbing wrinkle: many of those who own six or more guns have serious anger management issues.

Tread lightly, Americans: Nearly 9% of people in the United States have outbursts of anger, break or smash things, or get into physical fights — and have access to a firearm, a new study says. What’s more, 1.5% of people who have these anger issues carry their guns outside the home.

The findings, published Wednesday in the journal Behavioral Sciences and the Law, suggest that measures to reduce gun injuries and deaths should focus less on diagnosed mental illness and more on a history of violent behavior.

The new research also indicates that the 310 million firearms estimated to be in private hands in the United States are disproportionately owned by people who are prone to angry, impulsive behavior and have a potentially dangerous habit of keeping their guns close at hand. That’s because people owning six or more guns were more likely to fall into both of these categories than people who owned a single gun.

[…]

Fewer than one in 10 of those angry people with access to guns had ever been admitted to a hospital for a psychiatric or substance abuse problem, the study found.

Their behavioral history might suggest a propensity for violence, according to the study. But nothing in their medical histories would bar them from legally purchasing guns under existing mental health related restrictions.

“Gun violence and serious mental illness are two very important but distinct public health issues that intersect only at their edges,” said study leader Jeffrey Swanson, a professor of psychiatry and behavioral sciences at Duke University School of Medicine.

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Last updated: 2023-04-04 11:11 am PDT
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