Indeed, the evidence suggests the very act of being armed changes one’s perception of others to a decidedly more paranoid one. Other studies have shown an element of racial priming too, where a black subject is more likely to be assumed to be carrying a weapon. Guns have a curious psychological effect beyond this: a 2006 study by Dr Jennifer Klinesmith and colleagues showed men exposed to firearms before an experiment had much higher testosterone levels and were three times more likely to engage in aggressive behaviour relative to the subjects not primed with a weapon.
Ireland’s double-barreled, Oxford University-based, physicist David Robert Grimes in today’s Guardian Science.
Where he’s currently getting flamed by National Rifle Association (NRA) supporters.
Help him NOW!
