Hormones, hot sauce, and hot lead flyin'

Gun-hating headshrinkers shoot from the hip - and miss the mark

The medical establishment's war on masculinity continues, along with its war on guns.

According to a recent New York Times article, some new research suggests that the mere handling of firearms triggers aggression in men. A group of psychologists from Knox College in Illinois enrolled 30 male students in a study that these subjects were told was designed to measure taste sensitivity...

These men were divided into two groups and tested via saliva swab to determine baseline testosterone levels. For one group, the first part of the study involved the handling of a firearm. The other group had to lay hands on the Mousetrap board game. Both groups' hormone levels were then rechecked. Needless to say, the "gun" group had elevated testosterone levels compared to the "game" group.

After this, they were asked to rate the taste of a cup of water in which a drop of hot sauce had been added. They were then instructed to prepare a similar drink for the next study subject to taste, with no limit on the amount of hot sauce they could add. Supposedly, this was designed to measure aggressive behavior. And of course, the gun-handlers added three times as much hot sauce on average as the game-boys...  

This study is flawed on so many levels I can't even begin to catalog them!

For one thing, the study didn't measure the testosterone response of men who handled, say, a sword or a hockey stick or a power tool or even an erotic photo - only a gun. So where is the comparison between guns and other objects one would assume might spike male hormones?

Second, the study tested only men. If women (who also have testosterone) had exhibited similar spikes in "aggression" after handling guns, the sex factor would be irrelevant. So why focus only on men, if not to somehow target masculinity? Wouldn't the study have been just as valid if it proved that people in general experience heightened hormone responses after handling guns?  

Third, how can the researchers be sure that adding more hot sauce to a drink equals aggression? Maybe the testosterone spike desensitized these guys to the taste of hot sauce (which is entirely plausible since testosterone inhibits pain response), and they wanted to make sure the next fellow in line could actually taste enough of the hot stuff to rate it.

There's more. Keep reading...

The study's findings are due to be published in the journal Psychological Science - and my question is: To what point?

So what if handling a gun caused a spike in male hormones, or even aggression? I don't know about you, but I certainly wouldn't want anyone - and I'm talking about MEN here - defending my home, community, or country that wasn't somewhat primed for battle by handling weapons. It's a natural response.

Besides, this whole study's clearly got an anti-gun and anti-masculinity agenda. How do I figure this? Because firearms are extreme, purpose-built objects - their aim is to kill, and everyone knows it. Who in their right mind wouldn't be on high fight-or-flight alert (hormones, aggression, and all) in the presence of one?

I'll tell you who wouldn't be: Extremely stupid people, criminals, and psychopaths.

And as far as I'm concerned, the only everyday defense against guns in THEIR hands is guns in our hands - yours and mine. And no pseudo-scientific study from a bunch of agenda-driven Marxist headshrinkers is going to cow me into silence...

Taking aim at the gun-phobes,

William Campbell Douglass II, M.D.