Purchasing supplies and firearms during the COVID-19 pandemic
| Persons with COVID-19-related firearm purchase | Persons without COVID-19-related firearm purchase | Total | |||||
| Prior owners n=158 | New owners | Prior owners n=192 | Non-owners | ||||
| Household firearm ownership n=178 | No household firearm ownership n=179 | Household firearm ownership n=176 | No household firearm ownership n=222 | ||||
| Respondent or household member stocked up on the following (n=1105) | |||||||
| Toilet paper | 106 (67.1) | 128 (71.9) | 133 (74.3) | 100 (52.1) | 101 (57.4) | 104 (46.8) | 672 (60.8) |
| Hand sanitizer | 121 (76.6) | 129 (72.5) | 113 (63.1) | 66 (34.4) | 78 (44.3) | 73 (32.9) | 580 (52.5) |
| Household cleaners | 91 (57.6) | 105 (59.0) | 98 (54.7) | 62 (32.3) | 73 (41.5) | 82 (36.9) | 511 (46.2) |
| Masks/Gloves | 111 (70.3) | 105 (59.0) | 98 (54.7) | 47 (24.5) | 67 (38.1) | 64 (28.8) | 492 (44.5) |
| Non-perishable foods | 61 (38.6) | 107 (60.1) | 101 (56.4) | 110 (57.3) | 80 (45.5) | 120 (54.1) | 579 (52.4) |
| Bottled water | 79 (50.0) | 99 (55.6) | 95 (53.1) | 81 (42.2) | 71 (40.3) | 72 (32.4) | 497 (45.0) |
| First aid supplies | 80 (50.6) | 88 (49.4) | 72 (40.2) | 19 (9.9) | 32 (18.2) | 31 (14.0) | 322 (29.1) |
| Medications and prescriptions | 67 (42.4) | 83 (46.6) | 58 (32.4) | 49 (25.5) | 47 (26.7) | 52 (23.4) | 356 (32.2) |
| Pepper spray | 24 (15.2) | 42 (23.6) | 24 (13.4) | 4 (2.1) | 7 (4.0) | 4 (1.8) | 105 (9.5) |
| Home security products (not including a gun) | 41 (25.9) | 65 (36.5) | 44 (24.6) | 10 (5.2) | 14 (8.0) | 4 (1.8) | 178 (16.1) |
| None of the above | 1 (0.6) | 2 (1.1) | 8 (4.5) | 35 (18.2) | 28 (15.9) | 46 (20.7) | 120 (10.9) |
| COVID-19-specific concerns that contributed to decision to stock up on items listed above (n=1105) | |||||||
| Economy | 66 (41.8) | 83 (46.6) | 63 (35.2) | 55 (28.6) | 47 (26.7) | 52 (23.4) | 366 (33.1) |
| Supply chain disruptions | 93 (58.9) | 124 (69.7) | 128 (71.5) | 137 (71.4) | 117 (66.5) | 148 (66.7) | 747 (67.6) |
| Health | 84 (53.2) | 112 (62.9) | 96 (53.6) | 66 (34.4) | 72 (40.9) | 89 (40.1) | 519 (47.0) |
| Crime | 33 (20.9) | 50 (28.1) | 52 (29.1) | 13 (6.8) | 13 (7.4) | 8 (3.6) | 169 (15.3) |
| Social activities | 30 (19.0) | 40 (22.5) | 40 (22.3) | 13 (6.8) | 15 (8.5) | 24 (10.8) | 162 (14.7) |
| Other | 1 (0.6) | 1 (0.6) | 3 (1.7) | 1 (0.5) | 6 (3.4) | 9 (4.1) | 21 (1.9) |
| None of the above | 4 (2.5) | 2 (1.1) | 3 (1.7) | 3 (1.6) | 3 (1.7) | 1 (0.5) | 16 (1.4) |
| Primary reason you purchased a firearm in response to COVID-19* (n=515) | |||||||
| For protection against people | 83 (52.9) | 138 (78.0) | 139 (78.5) | – | – | – | 360 (70.5) |
| For protection against animals | 21 (13.4) | 11 (6.2) | 15 (8.4) | – | – | – | 47 (9.2) |
| For hunting | 26 (16.6) | 9 (5.1) | 10 (5.7) | – | – | – | 45 (8.8) |
| For other sporting use | 14 (8.9) | 8 (4.5) | 8 (4.5) | – | – | – | 30 (5.9) |
| For a collection | 11 (7.0) | 7 (4.0) | 4 (2.3) | – | – | – | 22 (4.3) |
| For some other reason | 2 (1.3) | 4 (2.3) | 1 (0.6) | – | – | – | 7 (1.4) |
| COVID-19-specific concerns that contributed to decision to purchase a firearm (n=515) | |||||||
| Economy | 55 (34.8) | 0 (0.0) | 87 (48.6) | – | – | – | 142 (27.6) |
| Supply chain disruptions | 55 (34.8) | 62 (34.8) | 65 (36.3) | – | – | – | 182 (35.3) |
| Health | 60 (38.0) | 54 (30.3) | 60 (33.5) | – | – | – | 174 (33.8) |
| Crime | 38 (24.1) | 75 (42.1) | 85 (47.5) | – | – | – | 198 (38.5) |
| Social activities | 29 (18.4) | 28 (15.7) | 26 (14.5) | – | – | – | 83 (16.1) |
| Other | 1 (0.6) | 1 (0.6) | 0 (0.0) | – | – | – | 2 (0.4) |
*Data missing for four respondents (one prior owner with purchase, one new owner in firearm-owning household and two new owners in firearm-naïve households)