After grinding through two long days at the United States Concealed Carry Associations second annual Concealed Carry Expo (day 1 brief report and day 2 brief report available), I was glad to have some extra time this morning to get myself together. I spent a few hours typing up additional notes from day 2 and … Continue reading
Chris Cheng came to national attention in the shooting community by winning Season 4 of the History Channel series “Top Shot.” Winning allowed him to quit his job at Google and become a professional shooter sponsored by Bass Pro Shops. I ran into him at the 2013 NRA annual meeting, and he could not have … Continue reading
Since November 2012, when I first started working in earnest on a new research project on American gun culture, I have tried to blog regularly at Gun Culture 2.0. I have been averaging about 5 posts a month since then, which is pretty good compared to my previous attempts at blogging (like on this blog). … Continue reading
Although I had a bad taste in my mouth from how the ending of Top Shot Season 2 went down, I still tuned in to Season 3 (and then Season 4), though usually watching it on DVR rather than going out of my way to watch it live. Dominant memory of Season 3: Self-taught recreational … Continue reading
I found History’s “Top Shot” quite by accident, but by the time Season 2 came out as “Top Shot Reloaded” I went out of my way to watch every episode live. Season 2 raised the bar on the weapons used and marksmanship challenges – and also on the drama. According to one of the competitors, … Continue reading
Re-watching Season 1 of “Top Shot” put me immediately back in the hotel room in Columbus, Georgia I was in when I first saw the show. I did not have cable TV at home, so I was lucky that I landed on a History Channel “Top Shot” marathon while flipping through the channels waiting for … Continue reading
As I have written previously, the reality/competition show “Top Shot” on the History Channel played an important role in introducing me to gun culture. It showed me that guns are used for purposes other than killing, that marksmanship is an impressive skill, and that shooting is a safe and fun pastime/sport/occupation for many people. It … Continue reading
