Culture affects our beliefs about firearms, but data are also important

Author: Mustard, David B.
Publication: University of Pennsylvania Law Review
Topics: Education/Counseling Surveillance/Data Collection
Keywords: CRIME GUN control cultural values empirical data shall-issue law
Bibliographic information +

The author disagrees with an essay by Kahan and Braman that contends that because people’s beliefs about firearms are primarily formed by cultural values, empirical data are unlikely to have much effect on the gun debate. He draws on his own experiences “lecturing about gun control to illustrate how to simultaneously penetrate individuals’ cultural biases and challenge them to more honestly consider evidence that may not be consistent with their cultural world views.” His work with John Lott convinced the author that shall-issue laws reduce violent crime.