A survey of nearly 1,700 young Americans aged 18 to 29 finds that fear of mass shootings does not automatically translate into support for stricter gun laws: among young men, Republicans and conservatives, greater fear predicts less support for gun restrictions.
When a shooting at an elementary school in Bend took the lives of three children and a teacher, it was the 52nd school shooting this year, and it landed just weeks before the midterm elections. Nearly 50 million Americans aged 18 to 29 are eligible to vote, and roughly six in ten say they plan to.
Why this generation is so afraid
They are the 'massacre generation', raised entirely after 9/11 and Columbine. Lockdown drills, heightened school security and nonstop media coverage of mass violence are the backdrop of their lives.
Some have survived one school shooting in high school, only to find themselves in another at university. A Parkland survivor who was later caught in a shooting at Florida State University summed it up: 'This is America.'
Why it matters
The political bet has long been that once today's youth gain electoral power, stricter gun laws will follow. This research throws cold water on that assumption: fear pushes this generation in opposite directions depending on their politics and gender.
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