A Desire for Added Protection is the Most Common Reason People Say They Get a Gun, But Having a Gun Makes People Less Safe, Not Safer
CHICAGO – Project Unloaded’s mission is to change the narrative on guns by debunking the false notion that guns make people safer and new polling from Gallup demonstrates why that mission is so urgent. Polling released Tuesday evening showed that 64% of Americans think that homes are safer with a gun – up from 35% of Americans who held that belief in 2000. According to Pew Research Center, protection is the main reason that people decide to become gun owners. But places with more guns are not safer. Instead, homes with guns have more gun homicides, suicides and other shootings. Communities with more guns also experience more gun violence.
“A mountain of research demonstrates that more guns make us less safe, but until that’s clear to most Americans, we will continue to be stuck in this heartbreaking cycle of gun violence,” said Nina Vinik, the founder and executive director of Project Unloaded and a 20-year veteran of the gun violence prevention movement. “The guns are the problem. To reduce gun violence, we need to inspire a generational shift in how Americans think about using and owning guns. That’s our mission at Project Unloaded and it’s the path forward for saving lives – even if lawmakers continue to fail us on this issue.”
Following the mass shooting in Lewiston, Maine, last week, Maine gun stores reported significant spikes in sales, with some gun dealers saying that they’d sold out of AR-15s. Sadly, these added guns are unlikely to make Mainers safer and more likely to lead to more shooting deaths.
“My generation is going to change gun culture because we are absolutely fed up with this new normal of terrifying shooting after shooting,” said Madhurum Bhuvan, a member of the Project Unloaded Youth Council. “No one should have to worry about their safety in their homes, schools, or communities. Just as young people before us changed cultural norms around smoking cigarettes, we can spread the facts about gun risks and change norms around carrying and owning them too. Never doubt the power of teens on TikTok.”
###