That which has been is what will be, That which is done is what will be done, And there is nothing new under the sun (Ecclesiastes 1:9). Reading year after year of The American Rifleman, this well-known passage from the Tanakh ring ever so true. Two examples below are similar to others I have found, … Continue reading
In a much longer recent entry I questioned the common narrative that the National Rifle Association was (largely? mostly? considerably?) a-political prior to the 1977 Revolt at Cincinnati. Continuing my stroll through 100 years of the NRA’s flagship publication, The American Rifleman, I came across still more evidence that the fundamental political emphasis of the … Continue reading
I confess that I have always been jealous of historians and historical sociologists because their wide field of vision offers so many insights into the present. Good history helps us see where we came from, and how the present day is or is not different from the past. Total immersion into a previous time period … Continue reading
When I began this blog nearly 5 years ago, I had no idea that I would be talking about the dawn of a new era of concealed carry in the United States. But developments in the past couple of years have forced my hand. Before highlighting those developments, I will review the broad pattern of … Continue reading
Last year I began writing reviews of gun-related books for CHOICE, a publication of the Association of College & Research Libraries that helps academic librarians find new titles to add to their collections. The reviews themselves are only a couple hundred words long, so it’s tough to say anything substantive in them, but being a … Continue reading
Among the responsibilities of the communications and external relations department of my university is to connect faculty experts with media working in their areas of expertise. So, after major events like the mass murders in San Bernardino and Orlando, my contact in that office usually asks me if I want to comment. For example, after … Continue reading
In the wake of any terrible event, I try to get the basic facts while avoiding social media in general because of its shallowness (memes!), polarizing tendencies (echo chambers!), and openness to the lowest common denominator (name calling!). I have been re-emerging a bit lately, and trying to find some good reading on the issues … Continue reading
