Gun culture and symbolism among UK and US women

The authors explored attitudes of young women in the United Kingdom (n = 10 8) and the United States (n = 91) toward (a) the possession and use of guns through the Attitude to Guns Scale (N. R. Branscombe, J. A. Weir, & P. Cro sby, 1992) and (b) guns' perceived functional and symbolic significance thr ough the Symbolic Nature of Guns Scale (C. A. Cooke & J. E. Puddifoot, 1997 ). There were significant differences in beliefs concerning the right to ow n a gun and the protective effect of guns bur not in the perceived contribu tion of guns to crime. Although neither group strongly equated guns symboli cally with power or control, the U.S. women were more likely to perceive gu ns as expressions of freedom or independence, and the U.K. women were more likely to view guns as expressions of danger and violence. The findings wer e contextualized by comparison with samples of male control participants of similar ages.