Sociology of Guns Seminar Guest Lecturer: John Johnston

I am back from the French Open and excited to continue on with my Sociology of Guns seminar. Last module, we discussed the liberalization of gun carry laws in the United States over the past several decades (the “concealed carry revolution”) that is so central to Gun Culture 2.0.

The topic of concealed carry permitting always raises for my students the question of “training.” Shouldn’t people who are allowed to carry guns in public be trained? If so, what training is appropriate, should it be required, and who should provide it?

For the third year running, I am fortunate to have John Johnston of Citizens Defense Research and Ballistic Radio visit my class to help address these questions. John is one of the deepest and most complex thinkers I know on this issue and he always brings unexpected perspectives to the students.

John Johnston guest lecture in Sociology of Guns seminar at Wake Forest University, February 2019.

This year, we had the students watch John’s video with Chris Baker for Lucky Gunner on shooting a concealed carry permit test blindfolded (in which John is coincidentally — or perhaps not so coincidentally — wearing his Wake Forest hat). I am looking forward to hearing John and the students talk about the lessons learned from this.

I will report back on the class and the students’ responses, and may also use this as an occasion to finally write up my observations on John Johnston’s Technical Handgun: Tests and Standards course, which I observed this past summer!

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