Mass shootings are often expected to change public opinion on gun control. However, this is not always the case.
📊 Event Analysis: We assessed shifts in support following the Sandy Hook tragedy using a national panel survey of US adults collected immediately after the event.
🔍 Key Findings: Data shows no significant increase in gun control backing across political or demographic groups post-Sandy Hook. There's also no evidence of attitude polarization — citizens didn't react more strongly to negative events than positive ones, but they still showed signs of motivated reasoning when interpreting them.
💡 Why It Matters: This suggests that the public may be resistant to change due to elite polarization and pre-existing beliefs rather than being swayed by crises.
| Critical Events and Attitude Change: Support for Gun Control After Mass Shootings was authored by Jon Rogowski and Patrick Tucker. It was published by Cambridge in PSR&M in 2019. |
