Young People of the "Mass Shooting Generation": "I'm Afraid of Mass Shootings. That's Why I Need a Gun." The "Same Fear" Dividing American Youth

Going to school. Shopping. Going out to a concert with friends.

In such everyday places, you or someone important to you might be shot. Despite sharing this anxiety, some people call for stricter gun control, while others seek to protect the right to bear arms.

A study targeting young people in the United States highlighted this contradiction.

An explanation by researchers published in the British newspaper The Independent on October 15, 2026, questions the view that "a generation raised with mass shootings would agree on gun control."

Wanting a safe society and agreeing on how to achieve it are not the same.

Over 60% of young people are afraid. Yet, there isn't just one answer.

The research was conducted by a team led by Jillian Turanovic from the University of Colorado Boulder. The study, published in the academic journal "Social Science Quarterly," analyzed survey data from 1,674 Americans aged 18 to 29.

Respondents were asked how much they feared being victims of a mass shooting themselves or having someone important to them be a victim. The questions also included public events, crowded places, schools, and commercial facilities.

The results showed that about 44% indicated moderate fear, and about 17% indicated strong fear, totaling over 60%.

Regarding gun policy, about two-thirds of the respondents believed that carrying guns in public places should require a permit and that guns should not be allowed on college campuses. Additionally, about 60% were skeptical of the idea that owning a gun leads to safety.

From this perspective, it seems that the anxiety of young people is supporting gun control.

However, when respondents were divided by political stance and gender, a different picture emerged.

The stronger the fear, the more some oppose regulation.

Overall, the survey showed that those who strongly feared mass shootings tended to support gun control. However, the correlation was not significant.

On the other hand, among young men, Republican supporters, and politically conservative respondents, an opposite correlation was observed. The stronger the fear, the less likely they were to support gun regulation.

It is important to note that this does not mean "men oppose gun regulation" or "all young Republican supporters want to be armed." These are statistical trends observed within each group.

Moreover, this survey alone cannot definitively state that "fear changed people to oppose regulation." It is possible that their original political beliefs and views on guns are related to both their perception of fear and their policy attitudes.

The study indicates that even if people fear the same danger, the policy answers derived from it do not align.

"Reduce because it's dangerous" vs. "Prepare because it's dangerous"

To understand this divergence, it is necessary to focus on what guns mean.

From the perspective of supporting regulation, limiting access to guns is a means to reduce incidents and damage. The idea is that making it harder to obtain dangerous tools can enhance the safety of society as a whole.

Conversely, from the perspective of valuing the right to bear arms, guns are also a preparation against danger. When an attacker appears, can you protect yourself and your family until the police arrive? Concerns arise that regulation might only disadvantage those who wish to defend themselves.

The original article's introduction of the claim that armed citizens can stop perpetrators symbolizes the latter viewpoint.

This is an organization of both logics and does not mean that owning a gun actually makes one safe. "Feeling secure" and "reducing harm" must be separately verified.

However, in political discussions, these two often overlap. What is a safety measure for one person may appear to another as "being deprived of a means of self-defense."

Be cautious of the figure "about 80% are afraid."

When reading the original article, it is necessary to distinguish between the numbers in the headline and the body text.

The "about 80%" in the headline corresponds to another survey targeting the entire adult population of the United States, published by the American Psychological Association in 2019. In that survey, 79% reported feeling stressed by the possibility of mass shootings occurring.

In the study of young people highlighted this time, the percentage showing moderate or higher fear was over 60%.

Since the years, subjects, and content of the questions differ, these two figures cannot be directly compared, nor can they be rephrased as "80% of today's American youth feel fear."

However, in the 2019 survey, 33% of adults also reported avoiding specific places or events due to fear. The incidents have a wide-ranging impact, changing everyday behavior beyond just the direct victims.

Expectations for training and insistence on self-defense intersect on social media

Reactions to this study can also be seen on the American bulletin board-style social media "Reddit."

The following is a summary of opinions found in existing threads introducing the same study, not the latest reactions to the Independent article. The age and nationality of the posters cannot be confirmed, and they do not represent the overall public opinion of young people.

In the science community "r/science," there were opinions that gun education and training should be enhanced. Regarding the assumption of armed citizens stopping perpetrators, questions were raised about whether multiple people firing in real-life chaos would increase danger.

On the other hand, there were also posts considering guns as preparation not only for mass shootings but also for home invasions. When the discussion shifts from indiscriminate attacks to home defense, the evaluation of the same gun changes.

In the political community "r/centrist," there were opinions showing resistance to giving up guns due to caution against government abuse of power. In response, posts continued to question how to balance the right to bear arms with the danger children face at school.

What can be seen from these exchanges is a conflict that cannot be explained by simply "liking or disliking guns."

School safety, family defense, distrust of the government, personal freedom. If the issues prioritized by participants differ, even when talking about the same incident, the starting point of the discussion shifts.

What is easy to overlook when viewed from Japan

Japanese readers might feel, "If you're afraid of shootings, why not reduce guns?"

However, in the U.S. gun debate, not only the crime prevention effect but also rights, independence, and the relationship with the government overlap as a single agenda.

Therefore, simply appealing to the fear of incidents does not necessarily change the policy judgment of the other party. For those who originally consider guns as a means of self-defense, emphasizing danger can also be a reason to keep guns at hand.

When understanding this issue from Japan, it is important not to categorize American youth as "the generation promoting gun control."

Even with the commonality of being young, the sense of whom to entrust safety varies depending on the family, region, and political stance in which they were raised. Generational change may alter the voter base, but it does not automatically resolve policy conflicts.

A generation that knows tragedy does not necessarily choose the same future.

Young people who grew up with lockdown drills at school and repeated reports of shootings are not a generation that has distanced itself from the problem of gun violence.

There are examples, such as the "March for Our Lives" led by survivors of the 2018 school shooting in Parkland, Florida, where young people have spearheaded movements calling for regulation.

Nevertheless, this study shows the limitations of projecting that image onto the entire generation.

The expectation that "seeing the same tragedy will lead to the same lessons" does not necessarily become reality. Existing beliefs may lead some to feel the need for regulation, while others feel the need for self-defense.

What American youth share is not a completed policy answer, but rather a desire to live safely.

To connect that desire to concrete systems, discussions are needed that not only emphasize fear but also verify which measures reduce what kind of harm for whom.

Sources and References

1. The Independent:
   Introducing young people's fear of mass shootings, attitudes toward gun control, and political divisions.
   https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/us-politics/mass-shootings-gun-rights-young-voter-b3067778.html

2. University of Colorado Boulder: Official explanation of the research content.
   Confirming the degree of fear among young people, responses to gun policy, and differences by political stance and gender.University of Colorado Boulder
   https://www.colorado.edu/today/2025/10/27/young-adults-fear-mass-shootings-dont-necessarily-support-gun-control

3. Research paper "Fear of Mass Shootings and Gun Control Sentiment: A Study of Emerging Adults in Contemporary America."
   Checking the abstract for the number of subjects, analysis methods, and main results.ideas.repec.org
   https://doi.org/10.1111/ssqu.70087

4. American Psychological Association: 2019 survey on anxiety about mass shootings.
   Source of the figure showing 79% of adults feel stressed and 33% avoid specific places or events.apa.org
   https://www.apa.org/news/press/releases/2019/08/fear-mass-shooting

5. Reddit "r/science": Public discussion about the same study.
   Used for summarizing posts regarding gun education, training, armed citizen response, and self-defense. Not treated as verified facts.reddit.com
   https://www.reddit.com/r/science/comments/1ojcc6m/for_young_republicans_and_men_fear_of_mass/

6. Reddit "r/centrist": Public discussion introducing the same study.
   Used for summarizing opinions on government caution, the right to bear arms, and children's safety.reddit.com
   https://www.reddit.com/r/centrist/comments/1ok6gxr/young_adults_fear_mass_shootings_but_dont/