Researcher discovers that gun nuts are people too!

[pax]

Contrary to my initial expectations of the "gun nuts" who presumably constitute what critics disparagingly refer to as "the cult of the gun in America," most members of "the gun culture" I’ve talked with are typical citizens. They live normal American lives, insofar as any of us is "normal." They have complex and sophisticated ideas about what guns do, what guns are for, and why guns are an important part of American history, society, and culture. A point that is consistently overlooked in the heat and vitriol of the gun debate is that millions of Americans have ostensibly enjoyable, or at the very least ordinary, experiences with guns all the time.

The entire article can be found at http://www.reason.com/0105/fe.ak.their.html

pax

 

[elector]

Interesting article. I give Ms. Kohn a lot of credit for having an open mind, and for working hard to learn about the reality of gunowners and their avocation. We need more academics like her, because she's willing to genuinely test her hypothesis, rather than bending facts to fit a politically correct preconception. (BTW, Michael Bellesisles is an example of the PC fact-bender, and of what is wrong with academia today.)

I think, though, that Ms. Kohn hasn't quite escaped from her original mindset, insofar as she still accepts the term "gun culture." AFAIK, this is an anti-gun propaganda term that always carries a negative connotation. Not that Ms. Kohn intends it to be negative. After all, she points out that "the gun culture is a fundamental part of American culture as a whole." But I think her use of the term clouds her perspective and keeps her at a remove from the natural American tradition of arms ownership. Even though she's now a gunowner herself, she still seems a bit uncomfortable with it. Maybe she just needs a little more time.

My 1 1/2 cent.