In my last post, I thought about the distinction between good guys with gun and bad guys with guns, and whether we can make that distinction only after someone has acted good or bad with a gun (“By their fruits ye shall know them”). The most recent incident spurring these thoughts is the mattress-in-dumpster shooting … Continue reading
Last year I was invited to serve as one of the “critics” in an “author-meets-critics” session at the annual meeting of the American Sociological Association in Montreal. The author in question is someone whose work I admire, Jennifer Carlson, so I gladly accepted. Putting together my list of top books on guns in America, I … Continue reading
Earlier this week I recorded segments for a future episode of Dr. Celine Gounder’s “In Sickness and In Health” podcast. Her third season in production is on gun violence as a public health problem. I made clear to her that my scholarly expertise is on American gun culture not gun violence, and she welcomed me … Continue reading
I don’t re-blog much on this site, and I definitely try to stay out of politics (though sometimes I can’t help myself). Lately more than ever. To be perfectly honest, I have grown weary of the culture war rhetoric on both major sides of the debate over guns in American society. I don’t want to … Continue reading
Not what I wanted to do this morning, but when I saw a fellow sociologist Tweet about a New York Times story on “How to Buy a Gun in 15 Countries,” I couldn’t help myself. According to the Times, “Many Americans can buy a gun in less than an hour. In some countries, the process … Continue reading
As I predicted, none of the Top 10 Most Popular posts on this blog in 2017 were among my Top 10 Favorite posts. Of course, only half of the top posts were published last year. One is from 2014, three from 2015, and one from 2016. Even though they were not among my favorites, I … Continue reading
Some time ago over lunch, my friend and I had a very productive and civil conversation about guns. We both have connections to Wisconsin and Wake Forest University, play tennis together, enjoy drinking gin and tonics, and share most of our political views in common. We are alike in many ways — most ways, probably … Continue reading
