Fear of Violence

Fear of Violence: How Fear Drives Both Sides of the Gun Debate

Fear of violence is the engine behind much of the gun debate, and it runs in both directions. For many owners, the fear of being a victim is the reason to own a firearm. For many supporters of gun control, the fear of gun violence is the reason to restrict them. Recognizing that both sides are responding to the same underlying concern, personal and community safety, is one of the most useful starting points for a productive conversation.

Surveys show how central this is. In a 2023 Pew Research Center survey, 72% of gun owners named protection as a major reason for owning a gun, well ahead of hunting or sport shooting. Gun purchases tend to rise when people feel less safe: background checks hit a record of roughly 39.7 million in 2020, a year marked by the pandemic and widespread unrest. Fear also shapes politics, since proposals for new restrictions gain momentum after highly publicized shootings.

Fear and data do not always line up. Gallup has tracked American crime perceptions for decades, and in most years a majority has said crime is rising nationally, including periods when official statistics showed it falling. In October 2025, 49% said there was more crime in the U.S. than a year earlier, down from 64% in 2024, and 31% said they were afraid to walk alone at night near home, down from 40% in 2023. People also tend to rate crime in their own area as far less serious than crime nationally, which suggests that news coverage, not only personal experience, shapes the fear.

The books below take the question to a larger scale. Immanuel Kant's Perpetual Peace (1795) argued that republics bound by law and commerce would be less likely to go to war, and Russett and Oneal's Triangulating Peace (2001) tested that idea with modern data. The same tension exists at the personal level: whether security comes from the ability to defend oneself, from institutions that keep the peace, or from both.

Table of Gallup and Pew survey findings on fear of crime and protection as a reason for gun ownership, 2023-2025.

Key Facts

  • Pew (2023): 72% of gun owners cite protection as a major reason for ownership.
  • Gallup (Oct. 2025): 49% perceive more national crime than a year ago; 31% fear walking alone at night.
  • FBI NICS checks peaked at about 39.7 million in 2020.

What Gun Owners Should Know

  • Base personal safety decisions on local crime data and realistic threats, not national headlines.
  • Ownership for protection works best with training, safe storage and a plan; fear alone is not preparation.
  • In conversations, acknowledge the other person's fear before offering facts; both sides want to be safe.
  • Watch for fear-based arguments, from any side, that skip over evidence.

Related: Correlation vs Causation, Times of Anxiety in the USA, Firearm Safety, Verbal Judo, and training resources on After Action.net.

Sources

Perpetual Peace: A Philosophical Sketch

Author: Immanuel Kant

View this book on AmazonView on Amazon ›

Triangulating Peace: Democracy, Interdependence, and International Organizations

Bruce Martin Russett & John R. Oneal

Triangulating Peace: Democracy, Interdependence, and International Organizations (The Norton Series in World Politics)View on Amazon ›

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