Motivasi seseorang warga sipil untuk membeli, menyimpan, dan menggunakan senjata api berupa perlindungan diri, koleksi, olahraga, berburu,<ref>{{Cite web|date=2022-05-18|title=Top 10 Reasons Why We Need Guns - secondamendmentcenter|url=https://secondamendmentcenter.org/top-10-reasons-why-we-need-guns/|language=en-US|access-date=2024-05-16}}</ref>, rekreasi,<ref>{{Cite web|last=Nadeem|first=Reem|date=2023-08-16|title=For Most U.S. Gun Owners, Protection Is the Main Reason They Own a Gun|url=https://www.pewresearch.org/politics/2023/08/16/for-most-u-s-gun-owners-protection-is-the-main-reason-they-own-a-gun/|website=Pew Research Center|language=en-US|access-date=2024-05-16}}</ref> dan tekanan sosiokultural.<ref>{{Cite news|last=Burnett|first=Dean|date=2015-10-06|title=Gun demanding: the psychology of why people want firearms|url=https://www.theguardian.com/science/brain-flapping/2015/oct/07/gun-demanding-control-firearms-psychology|newspaper=The Guardian|language=en-GB|issn=0261-3077|access-date=2024-05-16}}</ref> Keuntungan dari kepemilikan senjata api oleh warga sipil berupa pengurangan jumlah kejahatan yang terjadi di tengah masyarakat<ref>{{Cite web|date=2018-06-15|title=UPDATED: Mass Public Shootings keep occurring in Gun-Free Zones: 94% of attacks since 1950|url=https://crimeresearch.org/2018/06/more-misleading-information-from-bloombergs-everytown-for-gun-safety-on-guns-analysis-of-recent-mass-shootings/|website=Crime Prevention Research Center|language=en-US|access-date=2024-05-16}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|last=Duke|first=Selwyn|date=2018-11-28|title=Guns Save Lives — Armed Citizens Thwart Active Shooters 94 Percent of the Time|url=https://thenewamerican.com/us/crime/guns-saving-lives-study-armed-citizens-thwart-active-shooters-94-of-the-time/|website=The New American|language=en-US|access-date=2024-05-16}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|last=Duke|first=Selwyn|date=2019-07-03|title=Student Active-shooter Deaths 9 Times as Likely With "Gun-free Zone" Status Quo|url=https://thenewamerican.com/us/crime/student-active-shooter-deaths-9-times-as-likely-with-gun-free-zone-status-quo/|website=The New American|language=en-US|access-date=2024-05-16}}</ref> dan perlindungan warga sipil terhadap tirani pemerintah.<ref>{{Cite web|title=How Does an Armed People Secure a Free State?|url=https://www.heritage.org/the-essential-second-amendment/how-does-armed-people-secure-free-state|website=The Heritage Foundation|language=en|access-date=2024-05-16}}</ref>
