EXTREMISMHigh Rate of Mental Health Problems and Political Extremism Found in Those Who Bought Firearms During COVID Pandemic

People who bought firearms during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic have much higher rates of suicidal thoughts, self-harm behaviors and intimate partner violence, a study suggests, compared with other firearm owners and people who don’t own firearms.

Pandemic firearm buyers were also much more likely than the other groups to hold extreme beliefs, ranging from anti-vaccination views to support for QAnon conspiracy theories, according to the findings(link is external) published by in the journal PLOS One.

The survey was completed by 1,036 adults living in the United States in October 2021. While not nationally representative, recruitment for the survey was designed to approximate the United States adult population in terms of the distribution of age, sex, race, and Hispanic ethnicity with participants drawn from 47 states and Washington, D.C.

The findings suggest that pandemic firearm buyers have special characteristics that deserve attention to prevent harm to themselves or others, say the researchers, who are from the University of Michigan, the University of South Florida, the University of Nebraska at Omaha, and Michigan State University.

With 53% of all firearm deaths nationwide being suicides, and 6 million firearm sales to first time buyers in mid-2020, the findings also have implications for local, state and national firearm policy.

“I have never seen a single question that differentiates people so dramatically on so many things in my career as a psychology researcher,” said Brian Hicks, Ph.D., a clinical psychologist at University of Michigan Health and U-M Addiction Treatment Services and professor in the U-M Department of Psychiatry.

“People who bought firearms during COVID, whether or not they had a firearm before, were very different from those who didn’t,” he continued.

“They were far more likely to have major risk factors for being a danger to themselves or others, including high rates of suicidality, depression, and substance use, as well as extreme social and political beliefs. In other words, there are a lot of firearms now in the hands of people who were pretty distressed when they bought them.”

He added, “On the other hand, those who owned firearms before COVID, but didn’t buy any during the first 18 months of the pandemic, aren’t much different from those who do not own firearms at all. 

“About the only thing we found pre-pandemic gun owners differed on was having more pro-gun attitudes and being a bit more politically conservative compared to people who don’t own firearms.”