Here are some very interesting psychological aspects related to people’s attitudes about guns (both pro and con). Let’s use these insights to help us reduce gun violence.
This very interesting article that packs a lot into 7 pages: https://ernestbecker.org/this-mortal-life/death-anxiety-and-gun-violence/
A different link at the same website offers smart insights into how we might use the overall principles in our organizing about guns. See this fascinating, practical 5-page article about “Death Anxiety and Social Change”: https://ernestbecker.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/09/death-anxiety-and-social-change-ernest-becker-foundation.pdf
Seven years ago I interviewed an expert about the topic for my November 2016 TV program. I titled that episode, “Social and Political Implications of Death Anxiety.” Here is the thorough summary I typed up about what my expert guest and I said during the TV interview:
Program Description — November 2016
The end of that document mentions the website for the Olympia Fellowship of Reconciliation. That website no longer esist, but the website for the Ernest Becker Foundation is just fine.)
The basic sense of all of this is that human beings are the only species that are aware that eventually we will die. This has been referred to as “death anxiety.” It manifests in several ways. Empirical research has proved that people’s awareness of their eventual deaths – even subconscious awareness – influences their behavior in surprising ways. The 7-page article I linked at the start of this e-mail provides relevant information as this pertains to guns.
