Shooting War

 

This article has been percolating recently and it should give everyone pause for concern; are we heading to more extremist violence and insurrection or even a civil war in this country?

U.C. Davis has been studying trends and the statistics are frightening.

Large numbers of Americans who have bought guns over the past four years or who regularly carry their loaded weapons in public are willing to engage in political violence, even to the extent of shooting a perceived opponent, a new mega-survey has found.

The study of almost 13,000 Americans, drawn from across the US and weighted for demographics, provides alarming evidence of the openness of certain types of gun owners to the idea – and possibly the practice – of violence as a political actThe risk of violent behavior rose dramatically, the researchers found, with certain subsets of gun owners.

In particular, Americans who have bought their weapons since the disruptions of Covid in 2020 and those who often or always carry guns in public expressed high levels of susceptibility to political violence. A similar, though less marked, trend was visible among owners of assault-style rifles of the sort used frequently in mass shootings.

The study, Firearm Ownership and Support for Political Violence in the United States, was conducted by the violence prevention research program at the University of California, Davis. Its findings will ring alarm bells at an already exceptionally tense time for the country.

This is the part of the conclusion most sobering: 

About 42% of owners of assault-type rifles said political violence could be justified, rising to 44% of recent gun purchasers, and a staggering 56% of those who always or nearly always carry loaded guns in public.

One has to wonder how certain members of the House GOP will react to the next insurrection and which side of the battle lines they will be standing on? 

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Civil War - The Movie