‘Experts’: Buying a Gun in a Pandemic Gives People a Feeling of Control

Still more hand-wringing from those who see hundreds of thousands of first-time gun buyers (and counting) and realize the damage being done to the cause impeding, reducing, controlling, and eliminating civilian gun ownership in this country.

In its length, its scope, and its threat and alterations to the social fabric, this pandemic plays into the distinctly American perception of self-reliance, [Small Arms Analytics’ chief economist Jurgen] Brauer said. “It’s the philosophy that you do look out for yourself, you do not rely on anybody else.” And if need be, you defend your own home. Brauer stresses that the need for such measures is “more of a perception than reality, but it’s perception that drives the marketplace.”

Andrew Flescher, a public health expert in social policy and bioethics at Stony Brook Medicine, suggested that the act of buying a gun “possibly furnishes the buyer with a feeling of control” at a time when social distancing requirements have some people feeling that they have lost agency over their own lives. Kalesan echoed this view, saying that guns confer a sense of power and security. From a psychological standpoint, she added, a gun is similar to a “security blanket for a child.”

– Ariel Ramchandani in Another Worrying Side Effect of Covid-19: More Guns