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
Now that I have put a wrap on my Sociology of Guns seminar from last semester, I am ready to get back into my main area of interest with respect to guns: Gun Culture 2.0. As I get back to the roots of my intellectual engagement with American gun culture — the rise of the … Continue reading
Here is a third student reflection on the normative question of the role guns should play in (American) society, from my Sociology of Guns seminar. The first reflection can be found here, and the second here. By Ashley Hamati The role of guns in our society is multifaceted. Thus, it is difficult to determine one … Continue reading
The first written assignment in my Sociology of Guns seminar was for students to reflect on their own personal views of the role that guns SHOULD play in (American) society (in 500-1,000 words). This initial reflection is meant to set the stage for a larger written project undertaken over the course of the semester that … Continue reading
I read Adam Winkler’s Gunfight (W.W. Norton, 2011) months ago, but haven’t gotten around to posting about it until now because I got so much out of it. Nearly 9,000 words covering 20 single-spaced pages of notes, to be specific. So, these brief thoughts won’t do complete justice to the book. My main takeaway: This … Continue reading
In my last post I surveyed a series of grants recently awarded by the National Institute of Justice (NIJ) for research on firearms and violence. These grant solicitations were the product of a Topical Working Group on Firearms and Violence that met in early winter 2011. A report of the working group is available on … Continue reading
