Openness to church-based firearm safety interventions among Protestant Christian firearm owners

K M Conrick; M B Smith; L Rooney; E Morgan; A Rowhani-Rahbar; M Moore

doi:10.1016/j.puhe.2022.12.010

Openness to church-based firearm safety interventions among Protestant Christian firearm owners

Public Health. 2023 Mar:216:45-50. doi: 10.1016/j.puhe.2022.12.010. Epub 2023 Feb 14.

Authors

K M Conrick¹, M B Smith², L Rooney³, E Morgan⁴, A Rowhani-Rahbar⁵, M Moore⁶

Affiliations

¹ School of Social Work, University of Washington, Seattle, WA, USA; Harborview Injury Prevention & Research Center, University of Washington, Seattle, WA, USA. Electronic address: Kmc621@uw.edu.
² Harborview Injury Prevention & Research Center, University of Washington, Seattle, WA, USA; Pediatric Critical Care Medicine, Seattle Children's Hospital, Seattle, WA, USA.
³ Firearm Injury & Policy Research Program, University of Washington, Seattle, WA, USA.
⁴ Harborview Injury Prevention & Research Center, University of Washington, Seattle, WA, USA; Department of Epidemiology, University of Washington, Seattle, WA, USA.
⁵ Firearm Injury & Policy Research Program, University of Washington, Seattle, WA, USA; Department of Epidemiology, University of Washington, Seattle, WA, USA.
⁶ School of Social Work, University of Washington, Seattle, WA, USA; Harborview Injury Prevention & Research Center, University of Washington, Seattle, WA, USA.

PMID: 36796220
DOI: 10.1016/j.puhe.2022.12.010

Abstract

Objectives: Protestant Christians are more likely to own firearms and not store them locked/unloaded compared to those from other religions. This study examines how Protestant Christians view the relationship between their religious and firearm beliefs and how that informs openness to church-based firearm safety interventions.

Study design: Grounded theory analysis of 17 semi-structured interviews with Protestant Christians.

Methods: Interviews, conducted August-October 2020, focused on firearms owned, carrying/discharge/storage behaviors, Christian belief compatibility with firearm ownership, and openness to church-based firearm safety interventions. Audio-recorded interviews were transcribed verbatim and analyzed using grounded theory techniques.

Results: Participant perspectives varied on firearm ownership motivations and compatibility of Christian values with firearm ownership. Variation in these themes and in openness to church-based firearm safety interventions resulted in clustering of participants into three groups. Group 1 owned firearms for collecting/sporting purposes and intricately connected their Christian identity with firearm ownership, but they were not open to intervention due to perceived high firearm proficiency. Group 2 did not connect their Christian identity to their firearm ownership; some believed these identities were incompatible, so were also not open to intervention. Group 3 owned firearms for protection and believed church, as a community hub, was an excellent location for firearm safety interventions.

Conclusions: The clustering of participants into groups varying in openness to church-based firearm safety interventions suggests it is feasible to identify Protestant Christian firearm owners open to intervention. This study presents a first step in coupling firearm owner characteristics with community-based, tailored interventions with promise for efficacy.

Keywords: Christian; Church intervention; Firearms; Religion.

MeSH terms

Firearms*
Humans
Ownership
Protestantism*
Safety
Suicide Prevention