Assignment 3: Final Portfolio Project

Final Portfolio Project
Name of Student
Institution Affiliation
Final Portfolio Project
Introduction
The issue of gun permits has been a thorny issue for a long time. In a society that has both racial and cultural diversity, the question of racial preference on gun permits becomes fundamental in addressing other societal issues pegged on race. In the recent past, the US has experienced a series of public mass shootings with dozens of innocent civilians losing their lives. For example, it is estimated that at least 55,000 people lose their lives every year in the US as a result of gun-related injuries are recording the highest death rates associated with firearms as compared to other developed countries in Asia and Europe (Hamilton & Kposowa, 2015). It is, therefore, crucial to explore various factors that might influence the issue of gun control.
The right to bear arms in the US has become a common discussion and a controversial debate taking center stage as a result of increased media and public interest. Gun control advocates continue to push for stringent control measures such as thorough background tests, licensing gun owners and limiting gun sales to residents without a prior criminal history. On the other hand, the lobbyists of gun rights such as Nationals Rifle Association (NRA) continue to push for gun ownership and rights to bear arms giving more emphasis to professional training on gun ownership (Newman & Hartman, 2017). The discussion continues to arouse mixed reactions from American society with each group sticking to their choices.
Racial prejudice has been linked to different reactions to gun ownership policies. O’Brien, Forrest, Lynott, and Daly (2013), for instance, observe that Whites are more opposed to gun control policies which is a paradoxical attitude given the increased gun-related deaths across the country. Likewise, Filindra and Kaplan (2017) indicate in their research that preference for gun control among the whites is significantly influenced by racial resentment and related beliefs indicating the influence of racial prejudice on gun ownership policies. The diverse racial views, as well as differing income levels, constitutes the basics of this research as I investigate their influence on the preference to gun control policies.
This research project focuses on how race and income difference within the society influences the preference on gun permits. To investigate how race and income levels within the society affects preferences on gun control, I utilize the General Social Survey (GSS) data as the survey instrument. Specifically, I use the 2012 GSS data in this research. The data is downloaded from the GSS website- http://gss.norc.org/get-the-data/spss. The data is collected from voluntary participants in the US cutting across various societal issues.
All About GSS 2012 data :
* Participants and Data Collection
The GSS data is a survey project conducted by the National Opinion Research Center at the University of Chicago. The survey is conducted from volunteer US residents from all walks of life through face to face interviews at the University.
* Population sample
The GSS data collected from the volunteer US residents is a representation of adults. As a ...