In 2020, while many communities were under Covid lockdowns, protesters were flooding the streets and economic uncertainty and social isolation were deepening, Americans went on a shopping spree. For firearms.
2020年,当许多社区处于疫情封控,抗议者涌入街头,经济不确定性和社会孤立不断加深之时,美国人开始了疯狂的购物。他们购买的是枪支。
Some 22 million guns were sold that year, 64 percent more than in 2019. More than eight million of them went to novices who had never owned a firearm, according to the firearm industry's trade association, the National Shooting Sports Foundation.
那一年售出的枪支数量约为2200万支,比2019年增长了64%。根据枪支行业协会"国家射击运动基金会"的数据,其中超过800万支枪流向了从未拥有过枪支的新手。
Firearm homicides increased that year as well, to 19,350 from 14,392 in 2019. The death count from guns, including suicides, rose to 45,222 in 2020 from 39,702 in 2019. The number of lives lost to guns rose again in 2021, to 48,830.
同年,枪支凶杀案也有所增加,从2019年的14 392起增加到19 350起。包括自杀在内的枪支致死人数从2019年的39 702人上升到2020年的45 222人。2021年,这一数据再次上升,达到48 830人。
After quashing research into gun violence for 25 years, Congress began funneling millions of dollars to federal agencies in 2021 to gather data. Here is what social psychologists are finding about who purchased firearms, what motivated them and how owning, or even holding, a firearm can alter behavior.
国会在阻止对枪支暴力的研究长达25年后,又开始在2021年向联邦政府机构拨款数百万美元,用于收集数据。以下是社会心理学家关于购买枪支的是哪些人、他们的动机是什么,以及拥有甚至手持枪支会如何改变行为的研究结果。
Millions of Americans who had never owned a gun purchased a firearm during a two-and-a-half-year period that began in January 2019, before the pandemic, and continued through April 2021. Of the 7.5 million people who bought their first firearm during that period, 5.4 million had until then lived in homes without guns, researchers at Harvard and Northeastern University estimated.
数百万从未拥有过枪支的美国人在两年半的时间里购买了枪支,这段时间从疫情之前的2019年1月开始,一直持续到2021年4月。哈佛大学和东北大学的研究人员估计,750万人在此期间购买了人生中的第一支枪,其中540万人在那之前家里从来没有枪。
The new buyers were different from the white men who have historically made up a majority of gun owners. Half were women, and nearly half were people of color (20 percent were Black, and 20 percent were Hispanic).
新的买家并非过去一直以来占持枪人群大多数的白人男性。新买家中一半是女性,还有接近一半是有色人种(20%的黑人,20%的西班牙裔)。
"The people who were always buying are still buying -- they didn't stop. But a whole other community of folks have come in," said Michael Anestis, the executive director of the New Jersey Gun Violence Research Center, who was not involved in the survey.
"那些一直在买枪的人还在继续买枪,他们没有停下来。但其他一群人也加入了进来。"新泽西州枪支暴力研究中心的执行主任迈克尔·安斯蒂斯说,他没有参与这项调查。
Self-defense is the top reason Americans purchase handguns. Gun ownership is not just a constitutional right, but a necessary form of protection, according to organizations like National Rifle Association and National Shooting Sports Foundation.
自卫是美国人购买手枪的首要原因。美国全国步枪协会和国家射击运动基金会等组织认为,拥有枪支不仅是宪法规定的权利,也是一种必要的保护方式。
A study of individuals who said they were planning to purchase a first or second firearm during the early days of the pandemic found that would-be buyers were more likely to see the world as dangerous and threatening than individuals who were not planning to purchase a firearm.
一项研究调查了那些表示计划在疫情初期购买第一支或第二支枪的人,研究发现,与没有计划购买枪支的人相比,这些想要购买枪支的人更有可能将世界视为危险的和存在威胁的。
Those planning to buy firearms were more likely to agree strongly with statements like "People can't be trusted," "People are not what they seem" and "You need to watch your back," compared with those not planning a purchase, noted Dr. Anestis, an author of the study.
安斯蒂斯博士是这项研究的作者之一,他表示,与那些没有计划购买枪支的人相比,计划购买枪支的人更有可能强烈同意"不能信任他人""知人知面不知心"和"你需要注意保护自己"等说法。