Author: Nick Buttrick, Assistant Professor of Psychology, University of Wisconsin-Madison

Kamala Harris, Donald Trump, Tim Walz and JD Vance all have something in common. All four of them, along with an estimated 42% of American adults, have lived in a home with at least one gun. Gun ownership in the United States is widespread and cuts across all sorts of cultural divides – including race, class and political ideology. Like all mass experiences in American life, owning a gun can mean very different things to different people. One thing that American gun owners tend to agree on, no matter their differences, is that guns are for personal protection. In a…