Middlewood: Gun Ownership and Political Participation in Rural America

In A Silver Bullet: Gun Ownership and Political Participation in Rural America, Alexandra T. Middlewood (Political Science, Wichita State) analyzes the relationship between gun ownership and political participation in rural and non-rural areas with a particular focus on the Great Plains. Relying on self-reported survey data from the Pew Research Center’s American Trends Panel dataset, Middlewood investigates both formal and informal political participation relating to firearms issues amongst rural and non-rural Americans.

Silver Bullet found there is a 10% increase in the likelihood of a gun owner contacting a public official about gun policy if the gun owner lives in a rural area. Looking specifically at the Great Plains, Middlewood found 53% of gun owners had contacted a public official to express their opinions on gun policy compared to 40% of gun owners in the greater U.S. Further, 51% of U.S. gun owners have donated money to an organization with a position on gun policy compared to 68% of Great Plains gun owners.

Silver Bullet found, however, that there was virtually no difference between rural and non-rural gun owners’ participation in informal methods of engagement. Middlewood explores multiple possible reasons for this, including the fact that discussing firearms online is not local in nature and, therefore, does not spur participation in the same way as more formal methods of engagement.

This work provides an important contribution to the discussion of rural political power. Middlewood asserts that, because of the favorable asymmetric representation of rural areas particularly in the Senate and Electoral College, rural gun owners and gun owners who live in the Great Plains may in a position to disproportionately shape the national debate on gun policy.