Gun Talk Online: Canadian Tools, American Values*

Abstract

Objective The objective of this study is to address the following question: Why has the United States been so reluctant to embrace the type of comprehensive gun control that is in place in every other developed democracy? Method The method used to address this question is a computerized content analysis on nearly 18 million words that were extracted from online political discussions of Canadian and American gun enthusiasts. A comparison of these discussions was guided by three theories on the character and origins of Canadian–American political difference. Results The results demonstrate that the instrumental components of gun ownership are more relevant for Canadian gun enthusiasts, while American gun enthusiasts view their arms as physical manifestations of political values. These values are consistent with a widely perceived American ideology that centers on individual freedom and antipathy toward government. Conclusion This leads to the conclusion that U.S. gun rights groups are naturally advantaged in the gun control debate because their rhetoric finds fertile soil beyond the gun enthusiast segment, and helps explain the intensity of their opposition to gun control.

Debating Gun Control in Canada and the United States:Divergent Policy Frames and Political Cultures

“…While deference to authority has declined in Canada, as in other industrialized nations, in many respects, Canadian values are closer to European values, with the United States more the outlier or laggard nation (Nevitte 1996). While Lipset’s thesis has its critics (see, for example, Conway 1991; Grabb and Curtis 2005; Grabb, Curtis, and Baer 2000; Kaufman 2009; Tyrrell 1991), its interpretation is consistent with the findings of this analysis, and other studies (McLean 2018) that reported divergent framing of “gun talk” on the social media by firearms owners in Canada as compared with the United States.…”

The Popular Basis of the State’s Monopoly on Legitimate Violence: How American Voters Use Political Values to (De)Legitimate Gun Rights

“…This is an instance of the conservative most sacred value because if provided by God, gun rights are then a sacred tradition needed to sustain a moral community. This reaffirms qualitative work on guns as a "right" (McLean 2018).…”

“…In this vein, McLean (2018) confirms Lipset’s (1989) analysis of how the differences in values between Canadians and Americans shape variation in attitudes about guns between the two nations. In particular, McLean (2018) finds that much of this variation can be traced to American gun enthusiasts’ attitudes about gun culture being rooted in American values of individual liberty and aversion to government.…”

“…McLean’s (2018) mixed‐methods investigation into the values used by American citizens reveals two more deductive rationales. First, I coded for Liberty when respondents discussed their access to guns in terms of their “liberty.” In the eyes of conservatives, “liberty” from government regulation is a central tradition for maintaining a moral community (Haidt 2012).…”

“…Also drawing upon McLean (2018), I coded for Tyranny when respondents described gun rights in terms of “protecting against” or “checking” the potential abuses of a “tyrannical” or “overreaching government.” The key feature here is that guns were described as a “check” on potential “government overreach.” This is an example of the conservative most sacred value because gun rights are portrayed as a tradition that helps to protect moral citizens against the potential abuses of an out‐group: the government.…”