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Kathleen Sykes's avatar

How much of this do you think is influenced by the fact that Latter-day Saints are pretty clustered in Utah and the surrounding states? It might be a little chicken/egg, but these are pretty red states with more relaxed gun laws.

Alex Bass's avatar

Your comment brings up a great point about the influence of location.

For the 2017 Las Vegas shooting, I agree that proximity likely played a part in why it affected Latter-day Saint opinions more.

The question of gun ownership and gun laws is more complex. It's a classic "chicken-and-egg" situation: are their views a result of their religion or the politically conservative regions they live in? It's likely a mix of both.

Thanks for the great insight!