Campus Carry Attitude, Intention, Behavior, and Impact: A Multilevel Meta-analysis

Abstract

Numerous studies have examined the correlates and predictors of campus carry among various campus communities. There were, however, too many risk factors included, raw effect sizes were too small, and the differences in effect sizes were negligible, making comparisons prohibitively difficult or even worthless. To address this issue, a multilevel meta-analysis was conducted to investigate thirteen domains of risk factors as potential predictors of four campus carry-related outcomes including attitudes, intentions, behaviors, and impacts. Thirty-seven studies were included, with 703 effect sizes in a unique population of 55,115 campus members. A series of three-level meta-analyses revealed that different risk domains contribute to different campus carry outcomes. Generally, social life- and campus life-related risk factors were strongly related to campus carry intentions and behaviors, while the political ideology domain influenced both attitudes and behaviors. Statistically significant effects were observed in multiple moderator analyses for the number of universities from which data were collected and sample affiliations, however, these effects were relatively small. An in-depth review of the literature, synthesis of empirical evidence, and discussion of implications provided a clear path for future research and policymaking.

Keywords:

• Campus carry
• concealed firearms
• school shootings
• campus safety
• gun
• evidence-based practice
• meta-analysis

Disclosure Statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author.