Of my three goals for 2018, my goal of shooting competition comes largely from Kevin Creighton of the Misfires and Light Strikes blog. I have written a lot about Col. Jeff Cooper’s central role in establishing the civilian gun training industry which played a central role in the supplanting of Gun Culture 1.0 by Gun … Continue reading
Some people, like Lt. Col. Bill Kilgore, love the smell of napalm in the morning. For others, it is the smell of burnt gunpowder, especially coming from a classic revolver. If you are among the latter, Azzaro Parfums has just the cologne for you: WANTED. With amazing attention to detail, the company offers two sizes, … Continue reading
Fuller report on my visit to Haley Strategic Partners in Phoenix and conversation with Travis Haley is forthcoming, but in the mean time, a little fun coming out of the training division of HSP. Picked up a t-shirt during my visit showing the famous Gross Motor Speed Reload (G.M.S.R.) for the AK rifle. So I … Continue reading
Later this week I will be attending a Gun Studies Symposium at the University of Arizona in Tucson, organized by Jennifer Carlson, Kristen Goss, and Harel Shapira. The symposium includes a Who’s Who of scholars who have studied guns for decades, including Philip Cook (Duke), David Kopel (Denver Law), Robert Spitzer (CUNY), Frank Zimring (Berkeley), … Continue reading
I shot two replica muzzle loaders yesterday at Colonial Williamsburg in Virginia. I am guest lecturing on religion and guns and gun culture in two classes today at the College of William and Mary, so I drove up to Williamsburg yesterday. My host mentioned that Colonial Williamsburg opened a musket range in spring 2016. … Continue reading
Preliminary: “AR” is an abbreviation for ArmaLite Rifle, the company that developed the rifle, not “assault rifle” or “automatic rifle.” (H/T McThag) Also, the question here is why DO people own ARs, not why SHOULD they. I am dealing with the empirical issue not the normative one, although normative considerations would probably benefit from understanding … Continue reading
Question: Why do people own guns? Surveys typically offer people several options to describe their motivations, usually including: hunting, collecting, recreation, and personal protection or self-defense. Over the past 20 years, self-defense has replaced hunting as the primary reason for gun ownership for Americans. Some surveys allow people to list multiple reasons, for example the … Continue reading
