More Anti Gun Protests Again Reddit
Starting in mid-Apr, anti-COVID-19 lockdown protestors stormed and close down everything from statehouses to Subway restaurants with attack weapons and pipe wrenches. These protests are being framed around gun rights and complimentary spoken communication bug. Protests are allegedly about fully re-opening the economic system following land-sanctioned shutdowns. Protestors appear to perceive that quarantine measures to keep them safe and reduce the spread of COVID-19 are violations of their ceremonious liberties. In turn, they act out their frustrations through expressions of their 1st and 2nd Amendment rights. Anti-lockdown protests have now occurred in 31 states across the country and gun sales surged to nigh ii million in March.
With COVID-19 cases spiking, unemployment claims remaining high, and some states discussing rolling back reopening, we could see a resurgence of anti-lockdown protests in some places. Nosotros investigated 1 central question: what is the relationship between guns, politics, and anti-lockdown protests? In order to investigate these problems, we analyzed an assortment of data and ask whether the uptick in gun purchases will continue into the time to come and whether right-wing and militia groups will employ COVID-19 as an opportunity to recruit and enhance their cause.
Guns and politics
As of 2020, states that voted Republican in the 2016 presidential election accept a 37% higher gun ownership rate than states that voted Democrat. In states that voted Republican in 2016, 39% of the residents own guns compared to 25% in states that voted Democrat. Alaska, Arkansas, and Idaho are on the high end at over 55%, while Rhode Island and Delaware are on the low end at less than six%. This is non surprising considering that conservative states have more lenient gun laws.
While gun ownership is ofttimes mentioned as one of the hot-button issues that divides America, COVID-19 seems to exist changing the tenor of the discussion. Though states with populations that predominately identify as conservative are more likely to ain guns, this does not mean gun purchases have increased the most in these states during the COVID-19 pandemic. Using data from Gallup that captures the pct of state residents who identify as conservative, liberal, or moderate, Figure 1 shows the human relationship between conservative credo and percent increase in gun let applications from Feb to April 2020. At that place is a negative relationship between gun permits and conservative ideology during this menstruum.
Figure 2 shows the human relationship betwixt liberal ideology and per centum increase in gun permit applications from February to April 2020. There is a positive relationship between gun permits and liberal ideology. Moreover, gun permits have increased the virtually during the COVID-19 pandemic in states that tend to be more than liberal, both in terms of citizen credo and political party of country governor. Four of the top 10 states with the largest gun allow increases are in the New England area including Rhode Island, New Hampshire, Vermont, and Maine. In recent months, Vermont had a record high for background checks and Delaware had a record loftier for gun sales. Kentucky at 20 on the liberal ideology scale and Massachusetts at 35 are the outliers.
From Feb to March 2020 using data from ammo.com, ammunition purchases in states that voted for Democrat Hillary Clinton in 2016 were near double that of states that voted for Republican Donald Trump. Nevertheless, much of the ammunition purchases are full-bodied in two states—Delaware and Vermont. Ammunition purchases in each of these ii states were nigh 10 times higher than other states. When Delaware and Vermont are omitted from the assay, Republican states accept larger armament purchases than Democratic states.
Additionally, it is important to notation that Vermont (though voting for Hillary Clinton in 2016) has a college conservative ideology score (29) than liberal ideology score (24). Delaware reports the highest percentage of residents in whatsoever state with a moderate political ideology score (43). However, it is unclear whether ammunition purchases are dispersed across many people in these states or whether these purchases are limited to a small number of people. Nor do the data tell united states who is purchasing guns and armament. While some may speculate that liberals are purchasing guns, it could be a surge among conservatives in liberal states. We do know that ammunition purchases surged well-nigh 600% throughout the United States from Feb to April, which is a major increase in this time of dubiety.
Guns and anti-lockdown protests
With liberal-leaning states beingness hit harder by COVID-19, every Democratic governor imposed shutdowns whereas but 69% of Republican governors enacted shutdowns. Protests accept occurred in 66% of states with Democratic governors and only 46% of states with Republican governors. Xx of the 31 states where anti-lockdown protests accept occurred had higher than boilerplate gun let increases from February to April.
Figures 3 and iv evidence the relationship between gun permit applications and political ideology for states that had protests. As gun permits and conservative credo increase, states are less probable to take protests. Conversely, in states where gun permits and liberal ideology increment, protests are more likely to occur as well. For instance, Michigan, the site of some of the more contentious anti-lockdown protests, saw a virtually 340% increase in gun permits from February to April 2020.
Altogether, protesters are more likely to target states with Autonomous governors. Residents in states with more liberal ideologies are more likely to submit applications for guns and purchase ammunition during COVID-19. With anxieties existence high, it is plausible to assume that people are purchasing guns to protect their families. While this may exist occurring to a certain extent, the protests and the protesters themselves pigment a very unlike picture.
Anti-lockdown protesters are overwhelmingly conservative and white. Protests from Michigan to North Carolina are laced with right-wing and racist slogans and images such as dolls hanging from nooses, Nazi propaganda, and amalgamated flags. Information technology seems anti-lockdown protests to express the ist and 2nd amendments are masks for racism and the pursuit of an America that once was. This is a pattern we all should worry about.
Source: https://www.brookings.edu/blog/fixgov/2020/06/17/how-covid-19-is-changing-the-gun-debate/
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