There Is Such a Thing as a Gun Culture

By Dan Zimmerman

By Robert B. Young, MD

The concept of a “gun culture” is an interesting notion. The phrase is frequently used, most often negatively by anti-gun activists but it’s also been adopted as a positive description of values by many gun owners. What is it, and what does “culture” have to do with guns? First of all, there is certainly not a monolithic “gun culture”, because people appreciate firearms from a number of perspectives. We may be interested in different kinds of sport; that may be some form of target shooting, recreationally or competitively. We may care more about hunting, which is another personal challenge and a physically healthy pursuit that can also feed us. We may admire their fine craftsmanship, be fascinated by the history of firearms and collect them . . .

It may be important to us to be able to protect ourselves and loved ones against assailants who can be bigger, stronger, and more brutal and opportunistic than us. I doubt that many of us see ourselves as public menaces. Most of us are quite sincere about handling such dangerous implements carefully and using them safely. But that’s just our view.

On the other hand, candidate Obama famously called …read more

Source:: Truth About Guns