General Strain and Reported Gun Ownership Before and During the COVID-19 Pandemic: Implications for Crime and Public Safety

The COVID-19 pandemic has been one of the most globally disruptive social events in recent history, bringing widespread lockdowns, restrictions on movement, remote work, mass vaccination campaigns, and millions of deaths worldwide. These unprecedented circumstances have reshaped many aspects of social life, including perceptions of safety and firearm ownership. This study examines changes in reported gun ownership before and during the COVID-19 pandemic in the United States, using binary logistic regression analyses of General Social Survey (GSS) data from 2018 and 2021. Analysis revealed that reported gun ownership remained stable at approximately 35% in both years. However, the demographic and social profile of gun owners shifted significantly. Demographic factors such as sex, US birth, marital status, and income consistently predicted ownership in both years, while race, middle-class identification, and political party affiliation emerged as significant predictors only during the pandemic, with Democrats becoming significantly less likely to report gun ownership. The results demonstrate how social crises can reshape the composition of firearm owners rather than overall rates, with implications for public policy and safety.