Is gun ownership racialized : an examination through the lens of denominational affiliation.

In the United States, religiously and politically conservative Whites are likely to own a gun. The racial, religious, and political predictors of gun ownership reveal deep structural and cultural divides in American society. In particular, African Americans have faced economic and political barriers that have robbed them of complete participation in American life, including but not limited to gun ownership. But beyond these structural barriers, African Americans must also navigate distinct cultural spheres compared to Whites, and this, too, impacts gun ownership. This becomes evident when we look at how conservatism (both political and religious) acts differently in Black and White communities. Utilizing logistic regression, I show that, unlike Whites, political conservativism is not associated with gun ownership for Blacks, and religious conservativism actually diminishes Black gun ownership. These findings confirm that gun ownership is celebrated by White Christian conservatives but not Black Christian conservatives, mainly because American gun ownership is so steeped in racial resentment.