I have said it before, on this blog and in scholarly publications (also here), but I will say it again: It is no exaggeration to say that sociologists are only interested in guns and gun culture to the extent that they are related to crime, violence, and social inequality. Now, to be fair, sociologists are …
Most podcasts on which I appear are streamed and recorded live. Celine Gounder’s podcast, by contrast, is more highly produced. She interviewed me in early April for the new season of “In Sickness and In Health” which focuses on gun violence. When she reached out to me, I made clear that my scholarly expertise is …
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 …
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, …
Before I sneak off to SHOT Show next week, I will be starting the spring semester at Wake Forest University. As I have for the past four academic years, I will be teaching my Sociology of Guns seminar. A copy of this year’s syllabus is available HERE. One modification I made in Version 5.0 was … Continue reading
I have known for a couple of months but did not want to say anything until it was officially announced: I am giving the lunch presentation this year at the National Firearms Law Seminar in Indianapolis, April 26th. I will be using my own experience of becoming an armed American to shed light on the … Continue reading
Of my Top 10 most viewed posts in 2018, only 2 were published in 2018. So what are my Top 10 most viewed posts of 2018 that were actually published in 2018? I list them below. 1. New York Times Steps to Buy a Gun, Homicide, and Suicide Cross-Nationally 2. Yes, 18 Year-Olds Can Own … Continue reading
2018 was another good year for this blog. I posted 127 times, had over 100,000 visitors and nearly 200,000 page views. That represents an increase of 48% in visitors and 30% in page views over 2017, and is a far cry from the 6,000 visitors and 11,000 views I had in my first full year … Continue reading
Toward the end of my second day wandering the frontiers of defensive gun culture at the three day Polite Society Tactical Conference, I could feel my brain getting full and my trigger finger antsy. As I have written before, there is a trade-off for me in participating in gun training classes rather than just observing … Continue reading
Some time during the 20th anniversary Rangemaster Polite Society Tactical Conference (TacCon), I saw Dr. William Aprill standing outside one of the temporary classroom tents. I had been following his work for a while but had not yet met him, so I excitedly introduced myself as the author of a blog called “Gun Culture 2.0.” … Continue reading
2018 marked the 20th anniversary of the Rangemaster Polite Society Tactical Conference. I had only attended “TacCon” once before, in 2014. Even over the short period of four years, much about the event has changed. When I attended the 16th annual TacCon in 2014, 140 individuals – including me and my wife – paid $249 … Continue reading
