2017 was a terrific year for my research on American gun culture. I didn’t accomplish everything I had hoped, but I did more than I could reasonably expect. Although I didn’t quite reach my goal of doubling this blog’s readership in 2017, I came pretty close. I have already written about my personal favorites and …
Last fall I was invited to contribute a short essay to the newsletter of the Medical Sociology section of the American Sociological Association. The editors asked me to write anything I wanted to about guns that would be helpful to medical sociologists studying the issue. While some sociologists call for a shift in the national …
I am very happy to report that my second academic article on gun culture was published today in the journal Sociology Compass (my first was on religion and gun ownership). Thanks to a generous grant from Wake Forest University’s ZSR Library and the Office of Research & Sponsored Programs, “The Sociology of U.S. Gun Culture” …
I love whisk(e)y. My love knows almost no boundaries. American, Canadian, Indian, Irish, Japanese, Scotch, Texas. Barley, corn, rye, wheat. Neat, rocks, mixed. To fuel my love I have been reading Reid Mitenbuler’s recent book, Bourbon Empire: The Past and Future of America’s Whiskey. Early on, Mitenbuler introduces the first alcohol distiller among the British …
I recently completed the Massad Ayoob Group’s MAG-40 course, “Armed Citizens’ Rules of Engagement,” co-sponsored by Derby Guns of Scottsdale (shout out to Kate and Jim Kreuger!). This is the course Ayoob used to teach under the auspices of the Lethal Force Institute in New Hampshire. (A review of the LFI course written in 1999 …
For the first 42 years of life, I had never even handled a real gun, much less shot one. My experience was limited to shooting BB guns as a teenagers. We would usually shoot at cans, but one day I took aim at a bird that was too far away to hit, pulled the trigger, …
Between the end of the semester, my sister visiting, and some tennis related events, I’ve been on a bit of a hiatus from gun culture. Of course, gun culture waits on no person, nor goes my work. So I’m back in the office today editing two book chapters that came out of gun studies conferences … Continue reading
This is the fifth and final student end-of-class reflection paper from my Sociology of Guns seminar at Wake Forest University. This is one of my brightest students this semester — I also posted her seminar paper on hunting recently — and she makes some interesting observations about the guest lecture in class by Rob Pincus. … Continue reading
This is the fourth of five student final reflection papers from my Sociology of Guns seminar at Wake Forest University. I selected this particular response because the student comments specifically on John Johnston’s visit to class. For reference, the assignment was: In this final essay, you will revisit your previous personal experience with and understanding … Continue reading
This is the third of five student final reflection papers from my Sociology of Guns seminar at Wake Forest University. I also posted this student’s initial essay reflecting on our class field trip to ProShots Range. For reference, the assignment was: In this final essay, you will revisit your previous personal experience with and understanding … Continue reading
This is the second of five student final reflection papers from my Sociology of Guns seminar at Wake Forest University. I also posted this student’s initial essay reflecting on our class field trip to ProShots Range. For reference, the assignment was: In this final essay, you will revisit your previous personal experience with and understanding … Continue reading
Another semester teaching my Sociology of Guns seminar at Wake Forest University is in the books. I never manage to blog about the class in real time, but I do have some student final reflection essays to share. This is the first of five. I also posted this student’s initial essay reflecting on our class … Continue reading
The concept of Gun Culture 2.0 suggests that hunting and traditional target shooting have become less central to gun culture over time. But gun culture itself may have also become more pluralized. Hunting, in this view, is still a vibrant part of gun culture but it is more of a niche market than the primary … Continue reading
