JUST A FUNCTION OF RACISM:

"Our data also show that Whites, and especially White men, are the demographic group most likely to associate gun ownership with good citizenship," said the report. "Specifically, our 2015 nationally representative survey of 1,900 Americans, conducted by YouGov, found that 43 percent of Whites but only 23 percent of African Americans view owning a gun as a sign of good citizenship. That gap persists when we compare White and Black men and even White and Black men who live in gun-owning households, as you can see in the figure below."

"Specifically, we find that Whites who think that Blacks are violent are 38 percent more likely to believe that gun ownership is a sign of good citizenship than those who do not view Blacks as violent," said the report. "Similarly, Whites who think that Blacks have too much political influence are 32 percent more likely to believe good citizenship and gun ownership go together than Whites who do not. These attitudes are broadly shared among White racial conservatives, even those who do not own firearms."

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