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

• Author: Mustard, David B.
• Position: Response to article by Dan M. Kahan and Donald Braman in this issue, p. 1291

INTRODUCTION

Dan Kahan and Donald Braman's provocative analysis 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. Their proposed solution to this quandary is that scholars who want to help resolve the gun controversy should identify precisely the cultural visions that generate this dispute and formulate appropriate strategies for enabling those visions to be reconciled in law.

In response to Kahan and Braman's challenge to empirical research, I argue that while culture influences beliefs, it is but one of several such factors. Alongside culture (and presumably other factors as well), empirical evidence has a powerful influence on beliefs about gun control. In the first Part of this Commentary I discuss how cultural beliefs can significantly affect individuals' beliefs about firearms and discuss strategies for helping people overcome their cultural biases to more honestly evaluate empirical evidence. The second Part provides examples of how data have played an important role in affecting individuals' beliefs about firearms. I conclude by urging renewed attention to empirical research to inform the gun control debate.

1. THE ROLE OF CULTURE IN INFLUENCING BELIEFS ON GUNS

   Are individuals' beliefs about firearms strongly influenced by culture? Do some citizens possess attitudes about firearms that will not be affected regardless of how much empirical evidence is set forth? Kahan and Braman's analysis suggests that the answer to both questions is "Yes." (1) I agree that culture can play a very important role in defining people's beliefs about guns. In my writing and speaking about firearms I was shocked to learn how many people on both sides of the debate virtually ignore data that undermine their views. This cultural bias toward ignoring evidence could be extremely costly when formulating public policy on firearms because so many lives may be at stake as a result of the policy. I will draw from my 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 worldviews.

   In my own lecturing on guns, I often ask people whether any data or evidence could lead them to change their minds on the issue of gun control. Often those who respond "no" are forced to reflect on their unwillingness to listen to evidence. To the extent that this response conflicts with their self-images as thoughtful persons, they are often willing to renew a discussion of the issue with an openness to the data. With those who respond to the question affirmatively, I follow up with another question: "What type of evidence would lead you to change your mind?" This often generates productive lines of inquiry into what it would really take for listeners to change their minds. Occasionally the evidence that they would require to change their minds already exists in empirical studies. At one such talk, a student said she was utterly repulsed by the idea of allowing law-abiding citizens to carry concealed weapons, because she thought this would lead to wholesale chaos and "wild west gunfights." When asked about the type of evidence she would need to change her mind, she indicated that she would need overwhelming evidence that people with concealed-carry permits used their firearms responsibly. I described to her some of the published studies about the low incidence of criminality among permit holders (parts of which I include in the next Part). After the talk she said that she intended to examine this issue more honestly to see if she could not be persuaded.

   A talk that I have titled Guns--Just the Facts, or Guns: A Policy-Free Discussion, illustrates another way that I have tried to encourage people to put aside their cultural biases and think about their willingness to be open to empirical evidence. (2) In the lecture's introduction, I state that during my presentation I will discuss issues about...