Debate Magazine
CNN
Reasons for owning a gun have changed.
A national survey published in March by the Pew Research Center for the People & the Press reported that nearly half (48%) of gun owners say the main reason they own a gun is for protection, up from 26% who gave that answer in 1999.
Less than a third (32%) cited hunting as the main reason, down from nearly half (49%) in 1999. The findings make no sense, since violent crime in the country overall has dropped by 48% since 1993, according to Kellermann.
Perhaps even more important -- and less understood -- is the evidence that the benefits of keeping a gun for protection are far outweighed by the risks, he said.
But those studies are more than 17 years old and out of date, which is why, he said, new research is needed.
