We found that how much someone subscribes to Christian nationalism is one of the best predictors of whether they’re open to gun control. This relationship is very strong and exists even when we account for a host of other influences such as religious identity, beliefs and practices; political party and ideology; and socio-demographic factors.

The figure below shows the strong relationship between Christian nationalism and opposition to gun control across various religious traditions. For each group, greater adherence to Christian nationalism is linked to less support for gun control. The relationship is just as strong regardless of whether someone is an evangelical, mainline or black Protestant, a Catholic, or even unaffiliated with a religious tradition.