You know the feeling, the uneasiness of a certain part of town or a certain situation.
You get the notion that the people around you are holding firearms.
To counter the notion, you did your homework, got your license and carry a firearm yourself.
For safety.
But did you know carrying a firearm tricks your brain into thinking that more people around you are carrying firearms as well?
A new study from Notre Dame Associate Professor of Psychology James Brockmole, who is a cognition specialist, that will be published in an upcoming issue of Journal of Experimental Psychology: Perception and Performance says that when we hold a gun, we think we are not the only ones.
"One reason we supposed that wielding a firearm might influence object
categorization stems from previous research in this area which argues
that people perceive the spatial properties of their surrounding
environment in terms of their ability to perform an intended action,"
Brockmole said to Medical News Today.
If you can perform an action in an environment, it tends to be the case that others in the same environment can do the same action.
With Oklahoma having 24,018 concealed carry licenses issued last year this new report makes one think about the affect that carrying a firearm has on the mind.
This finding could have broad-reaching implications, but also opens the door to our perceptions, that part of the brain that is unique to us all.
We shall see what this impacts the future of aspects of life like public safety or law enforcement.
