Generation Z is rumored to be more conservative than the millennials, and gun politics is certainly one of the issues where that's true. But will things change now?
Where have you heard this rumor? In certain polls, students have been shown to either vote for Trump or vote for Clinton. However, according to the personality studies, the idea that they are more conservative than millennials is not accurate.
A 2014 study found that Generation Z students self-identify as being loyal, compassionate, thoughtful, open-minded, responsible, and determined.
Considering that the prior generations of Conservatives refused to understand that Obama was not a Muslim Kenyan, that Global Warming was real, and that declaring tomato paste a vegetable was a suitable response to the idea of making school lunches healthier for their children...and today's absurd Trump worship...I don't see a lot of thoughtful, responsible, and open-minded compassion among Conservatives.
A 2016 U.S. study found that Generation Z embraces multiculturalism as a touchstone of who they are, and this also informs their attitudes on social issues. They’ve come of age when same-sex marriage and a black president are a given and they expect continued social progress to reflect the ethnic diversity.
Considering that prior generations of Conservatives have been notorious for exaggerating the notion that immigrants steal their tomato picking and dry wall jobs and are infested with crime, that "Black Lives Matter" needed to be addressed with "White Lives Matter" over obvious police abuses, that Muslims are simply bad,...and today hide a disdain for minorities under the word "illegal" as they demand an actual border wall...I don't see Conservatives as embracing multiculturalism as they circle the wagons around their own identities as if under constant attack.
In
a study conducted in 2015 the Center for Generational Kinetics found that American Generation Zers, defined here as those born 1996 and onwards, are less optimistic about the state of the US economy, less optimistic about the United States' trajectory in general, less concerned about illegal immigration, and more concerned about the state of minorities in the US.
This is the generation who's entire existence revolves around being brought up in an uncertain world in which their parents purposefully confuse. Their whole world experience involves 9/11, seventeen years of constant warfare, the Great Recession, a black president, increasing environmental awareness, and an increase in high profile mass shootings that even involve an elementary school. This is all normal to them. And what have they learned from their parents? They have learned that they would rather bicker and gripe about their outdated and failed ideologies, nonsense on whether or not Global Warming is a Liberal hoax, nonsense about forged birth certificates, and the notion that dead kids are less important than holding a discussion on what defines an "assault" rifle. They have earned that their parents would rather complain about the evils of homosexuality, gay marriage, and transgender issues than acknowledge that their kids have openly gay friends and that some of their favorite television shows carry gay themes. Ultimately, they have learned that we are very old, selfish, and short sighted. No wonder they have less optimism about a future than us (though still believe in the American Dream apparently).
I just don't understand how today's gun owners can't see that the generation that is largely actually experiencing these shootings, aren't going to grow up one day and make more severe decisions, based on the fact that we now still refuse to even deal with a bump stock and on whether or not a clinically identified schizophrenic should be denied his Second Amendment right. Today's kids are obviously getting fed up and angry over our inability to be the responsible adults.