[ BEHAVIOR & BELIEF STUART VYSE Stuart Vyse is a and author of Believing in Magic: The of , which won the Book Award of the American Psychological Association. He is a fellow of the Committee for Skeptical Inquiry.

Guns: Feeling Safe ≠ Being Safe

n the days after the mass shooting in San Bernardino, California, in Ilate 2015, a dear friend who is a single mother made an impassioned plea on her Facebook page. After see- ing many calls for increased gun con- trol, she explained that she had been a victim of assault in the past and would not be giving up her handgun anytime soon. She said maintaining her per- mit was difficult to do—“as it should be”—but she was clearly upset about the many calls for additional controls. While I sympathize with my friend’s desire for security, she has fallen for one of the most common and most dangerous misconceptions Americans hold. According to a 2013 Gallup poll (Swift 2013), the top rea- son U.S. gun owners keep a firearm is for “personal safety/protection.” Fully 60 percent of gun owners gave this The Campaign against Gun pendently associated with an increase reason; the next most common reason Violence Research was “hunting” at 36 percent. in the risk of homicide in the home.” Sadly, buying a gun does not make In 1993, Arthur Kellermann and Indeed, controlling for other factors, you safer. To the contrary, the evi- colleagues published a landmark households where a gun was present dence suggests that bringing a gun study in the New England Journal were 2.7 times more likely to expe- into your home increases the chances of Medicine titled “Gun Ownership rience a homicide and 77 percent of you will be killed. You are to be for- as a Risk Factor for Homicide in the victims were killed by someone given if you have not heard more about the Home” (Kellermann et al. 1993). they knew: a spouse, partner, relative, this. There is an extremely profitable The Kellermann study examined 388 friend, roommate, or acquaintance. industry based on the myth that guns cases of homicide that occurred in the Kellermann and colleagues con- are an effective means of self-protec- home or within the property borders cluded: tion, and it would be bad for business of the home and an equal number Despite the widely held belief that if this information were more widely of matched control households. The guns are effective for protection, known. Furthermore, the myth that data were drawn from the most pop- our results suggest that they actu- weapons make you safer has benefited ulous counties in three different states ally pose a substantial threat to members of the household. People from a deliberate campaign against (Ohio, Tennessee, and Washington). who keep guns in their homes science and the collection of gun vi- Kellermann famously found that appear to be at greater risk of olence data. “keeping a gun in the home is inde- homicide in the home than people

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funding gun violence research (Dennis 2015). But last summer Congress qui- etly renewed the prohibition of firearms research, voting down an amendment that would have lifted the ban. When asked why the CDC amendment was not supported, then-Speaker of the House John Boehner replied, “Because guns are not a disease” (Bertrand 2015). Again in December of 2015, Con- gress passed another omnibus spending bill. Despite the efforts of Democrats to eliminate the Dickey amendment, it survived again, and the NRA-backed ban on gun violence research continues (Ferris 2015).

What Does the Available Research Show? Although federal funding has been cut off for almost two decades, investiga- tors have found other ways to conduct who do not. Most of this risk is due to a substantially greater risk of research, and there are some consistent homicide at the hands of a family findings. member or intimate acquaintance. We did not find evidence of a pro- 1. Access to Firearms Increases the Risk tective effect of keeping a gun in the of Being a Victim of Homicide. home, even in the small subgroup Although federal of cases that involved forced entry. funding has been cut The primary result of the Keller- (p. 1090) mann study has held up over time. In off for almost two 2014, researchers from the University The Kellermann study caused quite of California at San Francisco pub- a stir, and pro-gun advocates were quick decades, investigators lished a meta-analysis in the Annals to try to criticize it. But the gun lobby have found other ways of Internal Medicine, summarizing all was not satisfied with merely trying to to conduct research, the available controlled studies (An- debunk the study. The National Rifle glemyer et al. 2014). They found the Association (NRA) acted to prevent re- and there are some odds of being a victim of homicide were search on gun violence altogether. consistent findings. between 1.6 and 3.0 times higher when The Kellermann study employed the victim had access to a firearm. The telephone and face-to-face interviews, wide availability of firearms is only one making it very expensive to conduct, of the factors contributing to the ho- and the investigators had received micide rate in the United States but, funding from the Center for Disease contrary to popular belief, you are safer Control (CDC) and Prevention’s Na- if you don’t have a gun at home than if tional Center for Injury Prevention “advocate or promote gun control.” In you do. (NCIP). The NRA response was to addition, Congress cut the CDC’s bud- advocate for the complete elimination get by $2.6 million, the same amount 2. Women Are Especially at Risk of the NCIP. They failed at that ef- that had been allocated for firearm in- of Homicide When a Firearm is fort, but they were able to effectively jury research in the previous year. The Present. block all federal funding of research on effect of the amendment was chilling, The same 2014 meta-analysis found gun violence. In what has come to be and all federal funding for firearm in- that the increased risk of homicide vic- called the Dickey Amendment—after jury research quickly disappeared, a timization created by access to a firearm its author, former U.S. Representative condition that is still in effect today was significantly greater for women Jay Dickey (R-Arkansas)—Congress (Jamieson 2013). than for men (Anglemyer et al. 2014). placed language in the 1996 omnibus Former Representative Dickey funding bill that prohibited any funds has subsequently changed his posi- 3. Access to Firearms Greatly Increases given to the CDC from being used to tion and is now in favor of the CDC the Risk of Suicide.

28 Volume 40 Issue 2 | Skeptical Inquirer Although it gets far less attention, For example, in April of 2015 a guns were no more effective than other suicide is a much bigger problem than study published in Preventive Medicine methods of self-defense in this regard. homicide. According to the National by David Hemenway of the Harvard Dr. Hemenway summarized the Center for Health Statistics, in 2013 School of Public Health and Sara J. Sol- findings this way: there were 2.5 times as many suicides nick of the University of Vermont ex- The National Crime Victimization as homicides in the United States, and amined data from the National Crime Surveys, the gold standard for crime many of them were committed using a Victimization Surveys for the years estimates, indicates that using a gun firearm. Of all firearm deaths, 63 per- 2007 through 2011 (Hemenway and in self-defense is quite rare (less cent were suicides and only 33 percent Solnick 2015). Hemenway and Sol- than 1 percent of contact crime) and that it does not appear to be were homicides. (The other 4 percent nick found that out of 14,000 episodes more effective than many other mea-

Legal Intervention US Firearms Deaths, 2013 (source CDC) Undetermined Homicide Suicide Unintentional 05000 1 0,000 1 5,000 2 0,000

are for unintentional [accidents], un- determined, and legal interventions.) Furthermore, 51 percent of all sui- cides were committed with a firearm (National Center for Health Statistics 2015). Many suicides are impulsive acts that can often be prevented if there is time. Unfortunately, firearms are quick and highly lethal. Ready access to a gun makes it possible to act on impulse with tragically irreversible results. The 2014 meta-analysis also looked at controlled in which the victim came into contact sures of self-defense or protection in reducing the likelihood of being studies of suicide risk and found that with the offender (robberies, burglaries, injured. Not having a gun does not access to a firearm increased the odds assaults, etc.), the victim used a gun to render potential victims of crime of suicide by a ratio of 3.24-to-1 (Ang- threaten or attack the perpetrator in either helpless or easy marks. lemyer et al. 2014). only 127 cases (0.9 percent). Hemen- way and Solnick also found that men 4. Firearms Are Not Very Effective at and women were equally likely to be the A Dangerous Myth Deterring Crime. victims of contact crimes, but men were In 2012, the U.S. gun industry was One of the most popular argu- three times more likely to use a gun in estimated to be worth $31.8 billion ments in favor of firearm ownership is self-defense. In over 300 cases of sexual per year (Velasco 2012). If the recent that guns are useful for self-defense in assault, there was not a single incident Gallup poll is an accurate measure criminal encounters. A frequently cited of self-defense gun use. of why people purchase guns, a large study by Gary Kleck and Marc Gertz For those who used a gun in self-de- part of the industry’s profits are based (1995) estimated that Americans used fense, the chances of being injured in on the false belief that owning a gun guns for self-defense approximately 2.5 the incident (10.9 percent) were es- makes you safer—that a pistol in the million times per year. This figure has sentially equal to those who took no drawer will protect you from all the been widely criticized, and more recent action at all (11.0 percent). There was bad guys out in the dark. This is not studies using superior methodologies some evidence that the use of a firearm the first or only industry to profit by have painted a very different picture. resulted in less loss of property, but spreading false beliefs, but it is hard to

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imagine one where the public health was posted on the magazine’s Facebook online at www.washingtonpost.com/news/ to-your-health/wp/2015/12/02/hours-be- costs are as high. page the same day. As evidence of fore-san-bernardino-mass-shooting-doc- In fact, gun owners would be less America’s deeply divided beliefs about tors-were-on-capitol-hill-petitioning-con- likely to be victims of homicide and guns, the article proceeded to draw gress-to-lift-ban-on-gun-violence-research/. especially suicide if they got rid of heavy comment from readers on both Ferris, Sarah. 2015. House Dems lose fight to nix gun research ban in budget. The Hill their guns. In addition, taking no ac- sides of the issue. (December 16). Available online at thehill. tion during a criminal encounter would Many favorable comments welcomed com/policy/healthcare/263404-house-dems- make them no more likely to be injured the application of science to a fraught lose-fight-to-nix-gun-research-ban-in-bud- get. than if they used a gun. and highly politicized topic. Hemenway, David, and Sara J. Solnick. 2015. It is easy to understand the emotional Critical comments came in many The epidemiology of self-defense gun appeal. I am quite certain my gun-own- forms. Some either missed or denied the use: Evidence from the National Crime ing friend feels safer. Psychological re- basic message of the article, such as this Victimization Surveys 2007–2011. Preventive Medicine 79: 22–27. search is replete with examples of how comment: “But when you HAVE a gun, Jamieson, Christine. 2013. Gun violence emotion and intuition can lead us astray. you do have some measure of protec- research: History of the federal funding When asked what one thing he would tion for yourself and those around you. freeze. Psychological Science Agenda (February). Avail able online at www.apa.org/science/ eliminate if he had a magic wand, Nobel Without, you have nothing but laws to about/psa/2013/02/gun-violence.aspx. Prize–winning psychologist Daniel keep you safe.” Overwhelming evidence Kellermann, Arthur L., Fredrick P. Rivara, Kahneman said “overconfidence.” The contradicts this viewpoint. Norman B. Rushforth, et al. 1993. Gun kind of overconfidence that makes gov- Other pro-gun comments were ownership as a risk factor for homicide in the home. New England Journal of Medicine If you care about your ernments think wars will be easily won aimed at challenging the studies them- 329(15): 1084–1091. and makes investors believe that housing selves—a difficult task given the weight Kleck, G., and M. Gertz. 1995. Armed resis- safety and the safety prices will always go up (Shariatmadari and consistency of the findings—or tried tance to crime: The prevalence and nature of self-defense with a gun. Journal of Criminal of your loved ones, and Kahneman 2015). to argue that gun controls will not work. Law & Criminology 86(1): 150–187. get rid of your guns. Many gun owners undoubtedly suf- Gun control is a different and far National Center for Health Statistics. 2015. fer from overconfidence, too. Thanks more complicated issue. There is ev- Deaths: Final data for 2013. Available online to a well-funded advertising campaign, idence to support the view that homi- at www.cdc.gov/nchs/data/nvsr/nvsr64/ nvsr64_02.pdf. they have a particular image of how a cides and suicides can be reduced by lim- Shariatmadari, David, and . gun would affect any future conflicts in iting access to firearms, but I will save 2015. What would I eliminate if I had a their homes. They have been told that that more politicalized topic for another magic wand? Overconfidence. The Guardian (July 18). Available online at www.the “the only thing that stops a bad guy with day. In this article, I took a more direct guardian.com/books/2015/jul/18/daniel- a gun is a good guy with a gun.” But of approach by addressing a core belief of kahneman-books-interview. course, real life is not a melodrama with gun ownership. The majority of gun Swift, Art. 2013. Personal safety top reason easily identifiable good guys and bad owners say they buy their guns for pro- Americans own guns today. Gallup.com (October 28). Available at www.gallup. guys. Most of the perpetrators of vio- tection, when the evidence suggests that com/poll/165605/personal-safety-top-rea- lence are not strangers coming in from they would be better protected by mak- son-americans-own-guns-today.aspx. the darkness. ing sure there are no firearms in their Velasco, Shuyler. 2012. US gun industry is thriving. Seven key figures. Christian Science It is likely that many gun owners homes—by not being gun owners. The Monitor (December 17). Available online at also discount the possibility that they or belief that guns protect is a false one, www.csmonitor.com/Business/2012/1217/ someone in their home will become sui- and the persistence of that false belief US-gun-industry-is-thriving.-Seven-key- cidal in the future and, as a result, don’t has cost us thousands of lives. figures/31.8-billion. consider the implications of having a References Stuart Vyse is a psychologist and author gun in the drawer when that happens. of Believing in Magic: The Psychology of It is easy to assume that the negative Anglemyer, Andrew, Tara Horvath, and George Rutherford. 2014. The accessibility of fire- Superstition, which won the William James consequences of gun ownership “would arms and risk for suicide and homicide Book Award of the American Psychological victimization among household members: A never happen to me.” Many gun owners Association. He is also author of Going undoubtedly believe they can beat the systematic review and meta-analysis. Annals of Internal Medicine 160(2): 101–110. Broke: Why Americans Can’t Hold on to odds because they are careful and wise, Bertrand, Natasha. 2015. Congress quietly Their Money. As an expert on irrational but the evidence is clear. If you care renewed a ban on gun-violence research. behavior, he is frequently quoted in the about your safety and the safety of your Business Insider (July 7). Available online ■ at www.businessinsider.com/congressional- press and has made appearances on CNN loved ones, get rid of your guns. ban-on-gun-violence-research-rewnewed- International, the PBS NewsHour, and 2015-7. NPR’s Science Friday. He is a fellow of the Author’s Note: This article first appeared Dennis, Brady. 2015. Hours before San Bernardino shooting, doctors urged Congress Committee for Skeptical Inquiry. He can on the SKEPTICAL INQUIRER website to lift funding ban on gun violence research. csicop.org on December 16, 2015, and Washington Post (December 2). Available be found on Twitter at @stuartvyse.

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