Do Men with Big Guns Have Small Penises? Science Finally Explains Why

There is good reason to ask if they have a gun in their pocket.

The long-held myth that men who own guns are somehow overcompensating has been debunked by scientists in a new study published in the American Men’s Health journal.

Instead, researchers at the University of Texas at San Antonio found that men who were significantly more satisfied with certain physical assets were more likely to own guns.

The correlation between male sexual psychology and behaviors like buying big houses, driving noisy cars, and dating younger women is a common comedic trope in popular culture and also a topic of legitimate sociological speculation, including the suggestion that men who are obsessed with guns are also insecure about their own small penises.

“Contrary to popular belief, our current research indicates that men who are satisfied with the size of their penis are more likely to personally own a gun,” said study author Terence D. Hill, a professor in the University of Texas College of Agriculture.

In a previous study, UTSA researchers concluded there was no link between gun ownership and sexual dysfunction, but in their latest findings, Hill’s team aimed to pinpoint a direct link between penis size and guns.

The new survey included data from more than 2,000 American men ages 18 and older, asking them about their satisfaction with the size of their penis when fully erect and whether they had ever considered penis enlargement surgery.

Regarding gun use, participants were asked about the types of weapons they owned (specifically military rifles) and how many.

The survey found that 43% of men own a gun, including 11% who own a military-style rifle, while only 7% have attempted any form of penis enlargement surgery.

Contrary to popular belief, the researchers found that men who were more dissatisfied with their penises were less likely to own a gun: for every step down in satisfaction with penis size, the odds of owning a gun decreased by 11%.

For every unit increase in dissatisfaction with penis size, the likelihood of owning a military rifle further decreased, to 20%.

“As a social scientist, my primary interest is understanding the role of guns in society, including the social causes and social consequences of gun ownership,” Hill said. “There is a widespread assumption in society that men with penile problems (such as erectile dysfunction or a smaller-than-ideal penis) are more likely to own guns. This raises questions about the causes of gun ownership and which groups in society are more or less likely to own guns.”

But the findings stop short of definitively saying that only physically well-endowed men want guns.

“Because we have no theory to explain why men with larger penises are more likely to own guns, we believe this association is not real. In other words, we believe the association is probably spurious or due to factors we did not consider in the study.” Hill told PsyPost.

Meanwhile, the UTSA sociologists pointed to several demographic and social factors that influence gun ownership: Straight men, obese men, and wealthy older men are more likely to own guns. Men who live in rural areas are also more likely to own guns, though not necessarily military-grade guns. And men who identify with strong masculine traits are most likely to own guns.

The researchers couldn’t determine whether penis size, or the lack thereof, causes interest in guns because their study only looked at correlations between penis and gun characteristics. Also, the study relied on self-reported answers about satisfaction and penis size, so in the future, direct measurements might provide more honest results.

“The reported association between penis size and gun ownership is likely due to factors we don’t know about or were unable to measure in this study,” Hill explained to PsyPost. “For example, the association between penis size and gun ownership may be due to the fact that men with higher testosterone levels tend to have larger penises and are therefore more likely to engage in risk-taking behavior.”

Hill said he hopes to “formally evaluate” the testosterone hypothesis soon.

“We’re also considering other projects to test other taken-for-granted hypotheses about guns,” he said.