Are target-shooters more aggressive than the general population?

Although psychological research shows that guns are aggressive cues, proponents of liberal gun control argue that people rather than guns are to blame for gun-related violence. For instance, athletic target-shooters might classify guns as athletic rather than aggressive stimuli and thus should not be more aggressive than the general population. The present work investigated aggression and emotion-regulation in target-shooters. A longitudinal study found that initial self-reported aggression in target-shooters was higher than in the general population and further increased over 1 year. Additionally, the sample exhibited deficient emotion-regulation strategies, and this was related to self-reported aggression. In contrast, their implicit self-construct became more peaceful over time but was unrelated to all other measures. Two further cross-sectional experiments explored the causal impact of athletic target-shooting and other athletic activities (shooting a basketball) on aggression. Target-shooters and basketball players were tested before and after their regular team practice and aggressive thoughts and feelings were measured. Target-shooting but not basketball practice activated aggressive and anxiety-related thought more strongly than positive thought. Future research avenues, implications for the indirect measurement of aggression, and possible interventions to decrease aggression in target-shooters are discussed. Aggr. Behav. 43:3-13, 2017. © 2016 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.