{{short description|Behaviors and attitudes about firearms in the United States}} {{See also|Global gun cultures|Culture of the United States#Gun culture}} [[File:Map. Percent of households with guns by US state in 2016. RAND Corporation.svg|thumb|upright=1.5|Percent of households with guns in 2016. [[RAND Corporation]].<ref name=RAND>{{cite web |last1=Schell |first1=Terry L. |last2=Peterson |first2=Samuel |last3=Vegetabile |first3=Brian G. |last4=Scherling |first4=Adam |last5=Smart |first5=Rosanna |last6=Morral |first6=Andrew R. |title=State-Level Estimates of Household Firearm Ownership |date=April 22, 2020 |url=https://www.rand.org/pubs/tools/TL354.html |publisher=[[RAND Corporation]] |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230505231815/https://www.rand.org/pubs/tools/TL354.html |archive-date=May 5, 2023 |url-status=live}} Click on "[https://www.rand.org/content/dam/rand/pubs/tools/TL300/TL354/RAND_TL354.database.zip Download the Database]", extract the xlsx file, and choose the data tab at the bottom. Select state data for particular year from the HFR column. There is 2016 data for all states. Sort the year column.</ref><ref name=RAND-2>{{cite web |title=Gun Ownership in America |url=https://www.rand.org/research/gun-policy/gun-ownership.html |publisher=[[RAND Corporation]] |language=en}} See 1980-2016 timeline graph: "This figure displays three-year rolling averages for household gun ownership rates in each state and the nation overall." Hover over state lines for year and percent. There is also a form to select state lines to show. Add one at a time.</ref>]]
'''Gun culture in the United States''' refers to the behaviors, attitudes, and beliefs surrounding the ownership and use of [[firearm]]s by private citizens. [[Gun ownership]] is deeply rooted in the [[History of the United States|country's history]] and is legally protected by the [[Second Amendment to the United States Constitution]]. Firearms in the U.S. are commonly used for self-defense, hunting, and recreational activities.
[[Gun politics in the United States]] are highly polarized. Advocates of [[Gun rights in the United States|gun rights]], typically aligned with [[Conservatism in the United States|conservative]] or [[Libertarianism in the United States|libertarian]] views, emphasize the importance of the Second Amendment and oppose [[gun control]]. In contrast, those who support stricter gun control, often with [[Modern liberalism in the United States|liberal]] and [[civil libertarianism|civil libertarian]] perspectives, advocate for more regulations to protect human life and reduce [[Gun violence in the United States|gun violence]]. The gun culture in the United States is unique among developed nations due to the massive volume of firearms owned by civilians, the popularity of firearms for self-defense, hunting, and sporting activities, and a generally permissive regulatory environment.<ref>{{cite news |last=Fisher |first=Max |date=December 15, 2012 |title=What makes America's gun culture totally unique in the world, in four charts |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/worldviews/wp/2012/12/15/what-makes-americas-gun-culture-totally-unique-in-the-world-as-demonstrated-in-four-charts/ |newspaper=Washington Post |location=Washington D.C. |access-date=January 25, 2014 }}</ref>
==History== [[File:Cowboy.1887.ws.jpg|thumb|Firearms became readily identifiable symbols of [[westward expansion]].]]
=== American militia culture === American attitudes on gun ownership date back to the [[American Revolutionary War]], and also arise from traditions of hunting, [[Militia|militias]], and frontier living.<ref name="SpitzerCh1">{{cite book|last=Spitzer|first=Robert J.|title=The Politics of Gun Control|year=1995|publisher=Chatham House|isbn=9781566430227|url-access=registration|url=https://archive.org/details/politicsofguncon00spit}}</ref>
Justifying the unique attitude toward gun ownership in the United States, [[James Madison]] wrote in ''[[Federalist No. 46]]'', in 1788:
{{Blockquote|Those who are best acquainted with the last successful resistance of this country against the British arms, will be most inclined to deny the possibility of it. Besides the advantage of being armed, which the Americans possess over the people of almost every other nation, the existence of subordinate governments, to which the people are attached, and by which the militia officers are appointed, forms a barrier against the enterprises of ambition, more insurmountable than any which a simple government of any form can admit of. Notwithstanding the military establishments in the several kingdoms of Europe, which are carried as far as the public resources will bear, the governments are afraid to trust the people with arms. And it is not certain, that with this aid alone they would not be able to shake off their yokes. But were the people to possess the additional advantages of local governments chosen by themselves, who could collect the national will and direct the national force, and of officers appointed out of the militia, by these governments, and attached both to them and to the militia, it may be affirmed with the greatest assurance, that the throne of every tyranny in Europe would be speedily overturned in spite of the legions which surround it.<ref>{{cite web |title=Federalist No. 46 |url=https://avalon.law.yale.edu/18th_century/fed46.asp |website=The Avalon Project |publisher=Yale Law School |access-date=10 September 2019 |ref=p. 9}}</ref>}}
[[File:Calamity jane.jpeg|right|upright|thumb|[[Calamity Jane]], pioneer frontierswoman and scout, at age 43. Photo by [[H.R. Locke]].]] The American hunting and sporting passion comes from a time when the United States was an agrarian, subsistence nation where hunting was a profession for some, an auxiliary source of food for some settlers, and also a deterrence to animal predators. A connection between shooting skills and survival among rural American men was in many cases a necessity and a [[rite of passage]] for manhood. Hunting endures as a central sentimental component of a gun culture to control animal populations across the country, regardless of modern trends away from subsistence hunting and rural living.<ref name="SpitzerCh1"/>
The militia spirit derives from an early American dependence on arms to protect themselves from foreign armies and hostile Native Americans. Survival depended upon everyone being capable of using a weapon. Before the [[American Revolution]] there was neither budget nor manpower nor government desire to maintain a full-time army. Therefore, the armed citizen-soldier carried the responsibility. Service in militia, including providing one's own ammunition and weapons, was mandatory for all men. Yet, as early as the 1790s, the mandatory universal militia duty gave way to voluntary militia units and a reliance on a [[regular army]]. Throughout the 19th century, the institution of the civilian militia began to decline.<ref name = "SpitzerCh1"/>
Closely related to the militia tradition was the frontier tradition with the need for a means of self-protection closely associated with the nineteenth-century westward expansion and the [[American frontier]]. In popular literature, frontier adventure was most famously told by [[James Fenimore Cooper]], who is credited by Petri Liukkonen with creating the archetype of an 18th-century frontiersman through such novels as ''[[The Last of the Mohicans]]'' (1826) and ''[[The Deerslayer]]'' (1840).<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.kirjasto.sci.fi/jfcooper.htm |title=James Fenimore Cooper |website=Books and Writers (kirjasto.sci.fi) |first=Petri |last=Liukkonen |publisher=[[Kuusankoski]] Public Library |location=Finland |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140823203150/http://www.kirjasto.sci.fi/jfcooper.htm |archive-date=23 August 2014 |url-status=dead }}</ref>
[[Scotch-Irish Americans]] arguably best epitomized this frontier spirit. Emigrating from areas of Ireland and Scotland which had historically been economically poor and violent, these immigrants brought with them an intense pride, individualism and love of guns which would shape future decedent's views and help form the origin of American gun culture. Settling in Appalachia, the Scots-Irish would lead the push westward and eventually populate a band stretching from Appalachia to Texas and Oklahoma, and particularly after the [[Dust Bowl]] into Southern California.<ref name="PoliticalOrder">{{Cite book |last=Fukuyama |first=Francis |title=Political Order and Political Decay: From the Industrial Revolution to the Globalization of Democracy |publisher=Farrar, Straus and Giroux |year=2015 |isbn=9780374535629 |edition=1st Paperback |location=New York |orig-year=2014 |pages=141–142}}</ref>
=== African American gun culture ===
[[File:Black Panther demonstration.jpg|thumb|[[Black Panther Party]] armed demonstration at the [[Washington State Capitol]] on February 28, 1969|400x400px]] A distinct and growing sub-culture of American gun culture has been developed and promoted by African Americans since at least the end of the [[American Civil War]]. From [[Frederick Douglass]], [[W. E. B. Du Bois|DuBois]], [[Ida B. Wells]] and [[Marcus Garvey]], the [[American Civil Rights movement]], and the [[Pan-African movement]], an array of African American gun cultures and philosophies of violence and self-defense have proliferated in American life.<ref name=NJohnson>{{cite book |last=Johnson |first=Nicholas |date=2014 |title=Negroes and the Gun: The Black Tradition of Arms |url=https://rowman.com/ISBN/9781616148393/Negroes-and-the-Gun-The-Black-Tradition-of-Arms |location=Amherst, New York |publisher=Globe Pequot / Prometheus |page=170 |isbn=978-1-61614-839-3}}</ref>
==Ownership levels==
{{multiple image |total_width=775 | image1= 1970- Gun production - US.svg |caption1=Annual gun production in the U.S. has increased substantially in the 21st century, after having remained fairly level over preceding decades.<ref name=TheTrace_20240409/> By 2023, a majority of U.S. states allowed adults to carry concealed guns in public.<ref name=TheTrace_20240409>{{cite web |last1=Mascia |first1=Jennifer |last2=Brownlee |first2=Chip |title=The Armed Era |url=https://www.thetrace.org/2024/04/columbine-shooting-guns-whats-changed/ |publisher=The Trace |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240414235456/https://www.thetrace.org/2024/04/columbine-shooting-guns-whats-changed/ |archive-date=April 14, 2024 |date=April 9, 2024 |url-status=live }}</ref> | image2=2000- Gun sales and NICS firearm background checks - U.S.svg |caption2= U.S. gun sales have risen in the 21st century, peaking during the COVID-19 pandemic.<ref name=TheTrace_thru2025>● Gun sales data: {{cite web |title=Dataset / Firearm Sales |url=https://datahub.thetrace.org/dataset/gun-sales/ |publisher=The Trace |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20260520205155/https://datahub.thetrace.org/dataset/gun-sales/ |archive-date=20 May 2026 |date=12 May 2026 |quote=Monthly firearm sales in the U.S., estimated by The Trace using data derived from the National Instant Criminal Background Check System |url-status=live}} (freely downloadable data in .csv format) <br>● NICS background checks data: {{cite web |title=NICSFirearmBackgroundChecks: |url=https://www.fbi.gov/file-repository/nics_firearm_checks_-_month_year.pdf |publisher=Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20260402022449/https://www.fbi.gov/file-repository/cjis/nics_firearm_checks_-_month_year.pdf |archive-date=2 April 2026 |date=2026 |url-status=live}}</ref> "NICS" is the FBI's National Instant Background Check System. | image3 = 1990- AR-15 production as percentage of guns produced in US.svg | caption3 = Almost every major gunmaker produces its own version of the AR-15, with ~16 million Americans owning at least one.<ref name=WashPost_20230327>{{cite news |last1=Frankel |first1=Todd C. |last2=Boburg |first2=Shawn |last3=Dawsey |first3=Josh |last4=Parker |first4=Ashley |last5=Horton |first5=Alex |title=The gun that divides a nation |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/nation/interactive/2023/ar-15-america-gun-culture-politics/ |newspaper=The Washington Post |date=27 March 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230327153545/https://www.washingtonpost.com/nation/interactive/2023/ar-15-america-gun-culture-politics/ |archive-date=27 March 2023 |url-status=live }} Frankel ''et al.'' credit: "Source: National Shooting Sports Foundation and Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives." Frankel ''et al.'' quote: "The shift began after the 2004 expiration of a federal assault weapons ban that had blocked the sales of many semiautomatic rifles. A handful of manufacturers saw a chance to ride a post-9/11 surge in military glorification while also stoking a desire among new gun owners to personalize their weapons with tactical accessories."</ref> | image4 = 20230604 Gun death rates related to household gun ownership rates - by state - USA.svg | caption4 = Gun death rates correlate strongly (ρ = +0.76) with gun ownership rates.<ref name=CDC_MortalityByState>● Mortality data from {{cite web |title=Firearm Mortality by State |url=https://www.cdc.gov/nchs/pressroom/sosmap/firearm_mortality/firearm.htm |website=cdc.gov |publisher=Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, National Center for Health Statistics |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230603230439/https://www.cdc.gov/nchs/pressroom/sosmap/firearm_mortality/firearm.htm |archive-date=June 3, 2023 |date=2022 |quote=The number of deaths per 100,000 total population. Source: wonder.cdc.gov |url-status=live }} <br>● Household firearm ownership data from {{cite journal |last1=Schell |first1=Terry L. |last2=Peterson |first2=Samuel |last3=Vegetabile |first3=Brian G. |last4=Scherling |first4=Adam |last5=Smart |first5=Rosanna |last6=Morral |first6=Andrew R. |title=State-Level Estimates of Household Firearm Ownership |url=https://www.rand.org/pubs/tools/TL354.html |website=rand.org |publisher=RAND Corporation |date=April 22, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230505231815/https://www.rand.org/pubs/tools/TL354.html |archive-date=May 5, 2023 |url-status=live}} (Click on "Download the Database", extract the xlsx file, and choose the tab at the bottom of the xlsx file to see the long data listing, select data for particular year.)</ref> }} According to statistics in the 2017 [[Small Arms Survey]], "Americans made up 4 percent of the world's population but owned about 46 percent of the entire global stock of 857 million civilian firearms."<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/wonk/wp/2018/06/19/there-are-more-guns-than-people-in-the-united-states-according-to-a-new-study-of-global-firearm-ownership/ |newspaper=[[The Washington Post]] |title=There are more guns than people in the United States, according to a new study of global firearm ownership |author=Christopher Ingraham |date=June 19, 2018 }}</ref> U.S. civilians own 393 million guns. When compared to other countries in the Small Arms Survey, American civilians own more guns "than those held by civilians in the other top 25 countries combined."<ref>{{cite magazine |url=http://time.com/5315400/gun-ownership-america/ |title=Americans Own 46% of the World's 1 Billion Guns, Says U.N. Report |author=Edith M. Lederer |magazine=[[Time (magazine)|Time]] |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180622212521/https://time.com/5315400/gun-ownership-america/ |date=June 18, 2018 |archive-date=June 22, 2018 |url-status=dead |access-date=January 17, 2019 }}</ref>
In 2018 it was estimated that U.S. civilians own 393 million firearms,<ref>[https://web.archive.org/web/20180620231909/http://www.smallarmssurvey.org/fileadmin/docs/T-Briefing-Papers/SAS-BP-Civilian-Firearms-Numbers.pdf smallarmssurvey.org] Estimating Global CivilianHELD Firearms Numbers. Aaron Karp. June 2018</ref> and that 40% to 42% of the households in the country have at least one gun. However, record gun sales followed in the following years.<ref>{{cite web |last1=Schaeffer |first1=Kathleen |title=Key facts about Americans and guns |url=https://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2021/09/13/key-facts-about-americans-and-guns/ |website=Pew Research Center |publisher=Pew Research |access-date=14 October 2022}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|author1=Desilver, Drew|title=A Minority of Americans Own Guns, But Just How Many Is Unclear|url=http://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2013/06/04/a-minority-of-americans-own-guns-but-just-how-many-is-unclear/|website=Pew Research Center|access-date=October 25, 2015|date=June 4, 2013}}</ref><ref>[http://www.gallup.com/poll/1645/Guns.aspx "Guns: Gallup Historical Trends"], Gallup. Retrieved October 25, 2015.</ref> The U.S. has by far the highest estimated number of guns per capita in the world, at 120.5 guns for every 100 people.<ref name=SmallArmsSurvey2017>[https://web.archive.org/web/20180620231909/http://www.smallarmssurvey.org/fileadmin/docs/T-Briefing-Papers/SAS-BP-Civilian-Firearms-Numbers.pdf Briefing Paper. Estimating Global Civilian-Held Firearms Numbers]. June 2018 by Aaron Karp. Of [[Small Arms Survey]]. See box 4 on page 8 for a detailed explanation of "Computation methods for civilian firearms holdings". See country table in annex PDF: [https://web.archive.org/web/20180629102233/http://www.smallarmssurvey.org/fileadmin/docs/Weapons_and_Markets/Tools/Firearms_holdings/SAS-BP-Civilian-held-firearms-annexe.pdf Civilian Firearms Holdings, 2017]. See [http://www.smallarmssurvey.org/weapons-and-markets/tools/global-firearms-holdings.html publications home].</ref>
As per 2023 survey, 32% of Americans own at least one firearm. From 1994 to 2023, 28% gun ownership increased in America. In which women ownership increased by 13.6%, and Hispanics ownership increased by 33.3%.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.bulkcheapammo.com/blog/how-many-gun-owners-are-in-america-2024|title=How Many Gun Owners Are In America? 2023 - 2024 Statistics}}</ref>
Although historically there have been significant differences in respect to gun ownership between different races and sexes, that gap may be closing. For example, women and ethnic minorities saw the sharpest rise of private gun ownership in the United States in 2020 and the ongoing ownership trends do not indicate any sign of abatement.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.nbc4i.com/news/local-news/columbus/largest-rise-in-gun-ownership-african-american-women/|title=Largest rise in gun ownership? African-American women |work=NBC4 WCMH-TV |date=March 28, 2022|access-date=March 28, 2022}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=https://naaga.co/black-tradition-of-arms/|title=About Us|access-date=March 28, 2022}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/washington-secrets/boom-five-million-new-gun-owners-58-black-40-women|title=Boom: 5M new gun owners, with 58% black and 40% women |date=August 31, 2020|access-date=March 28, 2022}}</ref> Also, in 2020 and 2021 a sharp increase in gun ownership was seen due to the riots and pandemic during that time.<ref>{{cite web|title=Gun and ammunition sales soar as defund-the-police movement grows|url=https://edition.cnn.com/2020/06/24/business/gun-sales-spike/index.html|date=24 June 2020|work=[[CNN]]}}</ref><ref name=NPR>{{cite web|title=Pandemic And Protests Spark Record Gun Sales|url=https://www.npr.org/2020/07/16/891608244/protests-and-pandemic-spark-record-gun-sales|date=16 July 2020|work=[[NPR]]|author=Chris Arnold}}</ref> Nearly half of the gun buyers appeared to be first-time owners.<ref name=NPR/> Over 2 million firearms were purchased during the pandemic alone.
According to Gallup, in 2020, 32% of U.S. adults said they personally own a gun, while a larger percentage, 44%, report living in a gun household.<ref>Saad, L. (Nov. 13, 2020). [https://news.gallup.com/poll/264932/percentage-americans-own-guns.aspx What percentage of Americans own guns? What Percentage of Americans Own Guns?] Gallup.</ref>
== Popular culture == [[File:Buffalo bill wild west show c1899.jpg|right|thumb|A handbill for ''Buffalo Bill's Wild West and Congress of Rough Riders of the World'']] [[File:Houston Gun Show at the George R. Brown Convention Center.jpg|thumb|right|Visitors at a [[gun show]], U.S.]] In the late 19th century, [[cowboy]] and [[American Old West|"Wild West"]] imagery entered the collective imagination. The first American female superstar, [[Annie Oakley]], was a [[sharpshooter]] who toured the country starting in 1885, performing in [[Buffalo Bill]]'s Wild West show. The cowboy archetype of the individualist hero was established largely by [[Owen Wister]] in stories and novels, most notably ''The Virginian'' (1902), following close on the heels of [[Theodore Roosevelt]]'s ''The Winning of the West'' (1889–1895), a history of the early frontier.<ref>{{Cite web |title=American Literature: Prose, MSN Encarta |url=http://encarta.msn.com/encyclopedia_761564847_8/American_Literature_Prose.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20091028061922/http://encarta.msn.com/encyclopedia_761564847_8/American_Literature_Prose.html |archive-date=2009-10-28 |url-status=dead }}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.pbs.org/weta/thewest/people/i_r/roosevelt.htm |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20010309175324/http://www.pbs.org/weta/thewest/people/i_r/roosevelt.htm |url-status=dead |archive-date=March 9, 2001 |title=New Perspectives on the West: Theodore Roosevelt, PBS, 2001 |publisher=Pbs.org |date=1919-01-06 |access-date=2010-11-21}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.kirjasto.sci.fi/owister.htm |title=Owen Wister |website=Books and Writers (kirjasto.sci.fi) |first=Petri |last=Liukkonen |publisher=[[Kuusankoski]] Public Library |location=Finland |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131224103126/http://www.kirjasto.sci.fi/owister.htm |archive-date=24 December 2013 |url-status=dead }}</ref> Cowboys were also popularized in turn of the 20th century cinema, notably through such early classics as ''[[The Great Train Robbery (1903 film)|The Great Train Robbery]]'' (1903) and ''A California Hold Up'' (1906)—the most commercially successful film of the pre-[[Nickelodeon (movie theater)|nickelodeon]] era.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.filmsite.org/westernfilms.html |title="Western Films", Tim Dirks, Filmsite, 1996-2007 |publisher=Filmsite.org |access-date=2010-11-21}}</ref>
[[Gangster film]]s started in 1910, but became popular only with the advent of sound in film in the 1930s. The genre was boosted by the events of the [[Prohibition in the United States|prohibition]] era, such as bootlegging and the [[St. Valentine's Day Massacre]] of 1929, the existence of real-life gangsters such as [[Al Capone]] and the rise of contemporary [[organized crime]] and escalation of urban violence. These movies flaunted the archetypal exploits of "swaggering, cruel, wily, tough, and law-defying bootleggers and urban gangsters".<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.filmsite.org/crimefilms.html |title="Crime and Gangster Films", Tim Dirks, Filmsite, 1996-2007 |publisher=Filmsite.org |access-date=2010-11-21}}</ref>
Since [[World War II]], Hollywood produced many morale-boosting movies, patriotic rallying cries that affirmed a sense of national purpose. The image of the lone cowboy was replaced in these combat films by stories emphasizing group efforts and the value of individual sacrifices for a larger cause, often featuring a group of men from diverse ethnic backgrounds who were thrown together, tested on the battlefield, and molded into a dedicated fighting unit.<ref>{{cite web |author=Digital History, Steven Mintz |url=http://www.digitalhistory.uh.edu/historyonline/hollywood_history.cfm#wartime |title=Hollywood as History: Wartime Hollywood, Digital History |publisher=Digitalhistory.uh.edu |access-date=2010-11-21 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101129043014/http://www.digitalhistory.uh.edu/historyonline/hollywood_history.cfm#wartime |archive-date=2010-11-29 }}</ref>
Guns frequently accompanied famous heroes and villains in late 20th-century American films, from the outlaws of ''[[Bonnie and Clyde (film)|Bonnie and Clyde]]'' (1967) and ''[[The Godfather]]'' (1972), to fictional law and order avengers such as ''[[Dirty Harry]]'' (1971) and ''[[RoboCop (1987 film)|RoboCop]]'' (1987). In the 1970s, fictional madmen ostensibly produced by the [[Vietnam War]] were central to films such as ''[[Taxi Driver]]'' (1976) and ''[[Apocalypse Now]]'' (1979), while the 1978 films ''[[Coming Home (1978 film)|Coming Home]]'' and ''[[The Deer Hunter]]'' told stories of fictional veterans who were victims of the war and in need of rehabilitation.<ref>{{cite web |author=Digital History, Steven Mintz |url=http://www.digitalhistory.uh.edu/historyonline/hollywood_history.cfm#new |title=Hollywood as History: The "New" Hollywood, Digital History |publisher=Digitalhistory.uh.edu |access-date=2010-11-21 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101129043014/http://www.digitalhistory.uh.edu/historyonline/hollywood_history.cfm#new |archive-date=2010-11-29 }}</ref> Many action films continue to celebrate the gun toting hero in fictional settings. The negative role of the gun in fictionalized modern urban violence has been explored in films such as ''[[Boyz n the Hood]]'' (1991) and ''[[Menace 2 Society]]'' (1993). ''[[Bowling for Columbine]]'' was a 2002 documentary by [[Michael Moore]] exploring gun culture in the United States. [[File:Firearms Welcome Sign.jpg|thumb|Firearms welcome sign in a shop window|174x174px]]
== Political and cultural theories == [[File:20210420 Gun control survey by political party - Pew Research.svg|thumb|upright=1.5| U.S. opinion on gun control issues is deeply divided along political lines, as shown in this 2021 survey.<ref name=Pew_20210420>{{cite web |title=Amid a Series of Mass Shootings in the U.S., Gun Policy Remains Deeply Divisive |url=https://www.pewresearch.org/politics/2021/04/20/amid-a-series-of-mass-shootings-in-the-u-s-gun-policy-remains-deeply-divisive/ |website=PewResearch.org |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220530202009/https://www.pewresearch.org/politics/2021/04/20/amid-a-series-of-mass-shootings-in-the-u-s-gun-policy-remains-deeply-divisive/ |archive-date=May 30, 2022 |date=April 20, 2021 |url-status=live }}</ref>]]
Gun culture and its effects have been at the center of major debates in the US's public sphere for decades.<ref>{{Cite book|title = Armed America: The Remarkable Story of How and Why Guns Became as American as Apple Pie|url = https://books.google.com/books?id=TLcGOLAa3BIC|publisher = Thomas Nelson Inc|date = 2009-08-24|isbn = 9781418551872|first = Clayton E.|last = Cramer}}</ref> In his 1970 article "America as a Gun Culture,"<ref name="HofstadterAGC">{{cite journal |last=Hofstadter |first=Richard |date=October 1970 |title=America as a Gun Culture |url=http://www.americanheritage.com/content/america-gun-culture |journal=American Heritage Magazine |publisher=American Heritage Publishing |volume=21 |issue=6 |access-date=January 25, 2014}}</ref> historian [[Richard Hofstadter]] used the phrase "gun culture" to characterize America as having a long-held affection for guns, embracing and celebrating the association of guns and an overall heritage relating to guns. He also noted that the US "is the only industrial nation in which the possession of rifles, shotguns, and handguns is lawfully prevalent among large numbers of its population". In 1995, political scientist [[Robert Spitzer (political scientist)|Robert Spitzer]] said that the modern American gun culture is founded on three factors: the proliferation of firearms since the earliest days of the nation, the connection between personal ownership of weapons and the country's revolutionary and frontier history, and the cultural mythology regarding the gun in the frontier and in modern life.<ref name="SpitzerPGC1995">{{cite book |last=Spitzer |first=Robert J. |year=1995 |title=The Politics of Gun Control |url=https://archive.org/details/politicsofguncon00spit |url-access=registration |publisher=Chatham House Publishers|isbn=9781566430227 }}</ref> In 2008, the US Supreme Court [[District_of_Columbia_v._Heller|affirmed]] that the right of individuals to possess firearms is guaranteed by the Second Amendment.<ref>{{ cite news| url=https://www.supremecourt.gov/opinions/07pdf/07-290.pdf| title=US District of Columbia et al v Heller | publisher=US Supreme Court| date=June 26, 2008 }}(Citation needs updating) </ref> <ref> https://supreme.justia.com/cases/federal/us/554/570/ US Supreme Court. June 26, 2008 (Alternate Case source)</ref>
==Terms applied to opponents==<!-- "Hoplophobia" redirects here --> Terms used by gun rights and gun control advocates to refer to opponents are part of the larger topic of [[gun politics]].
The term ''gun nut'' refers to firearms enthusiasts who are deeply involved with the gun culture. It is regarded as a [[pejorative]] [[stereotype]] cast upon gun owners by [[gun politics|gun control]] [[advocates]] as a means of implying that they are fanatical, exhibit abnormal behavior, or are a threat to the safety of others.<ref>"[http://nl.newsbank.com/nl-search/we/Archives?p_product=BN&p_theme=bn&p_action=search&p_maxdocs=200&p_topdoc=1&p_text_direct-0=0EAF9B07493D3700&p_field_direct-0=document_id&p_perpage=10&p_sort=YMD_date:D&s_trackval=GooglePM Shoot-out Confirms Foreign View of America as 'Gun Nut' Country]" by T.R. Reid, ''The Buffalo News'', July 26, 1998</ref><ref>"[http://www.latimes.com/news/printedition/opinion/la-ed-guns17jun17,1,5131671.story?coll=la-news-comment Small steps on gun control]" Los Angeles Times, June 17, 2007</ref><ref>"[https://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/national/longterm/shooting/stories/world072698.htm 'Terror in Capitol' No Surprise to World]" By T.R. Reid, ''Washington Post'', July 26, 1998</ref> Some gun owners embrace the term affectionately.<ref>[http://fieldandstream.blogs.com/ The Gun Nut] blog at Field & Stream</ref>
The term ''hoplophobia'' refers to an "irrational aversion to firearms",<ref>Cooper, Jeff (1990). ''[http://www.usrepeals.org/ca/mtbpers/hoplophobia.html To Ride, Shoot Straight, and Speak the Truth] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131002191927/http://www.usrepeals.org/ca/mtbpers/hoplophobia.html |date=2013-10-02 }}''. Boulder, Colorado: Paladin Press. pp. 16–19.</ref> and US Marine [[Jeff Cooper]] claimed to have invented the term in the 1960s.<ref name=Baump308>{{cite book |last=Baum |first=Dan |year=2013 |title=Gun Guys: A Road Trip |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=wY54BO2J1QYC&pg=PA308 |publisher=Knopf Doubleday |page=308 |isbn=9780307962218 }}</ref>
==Foreign perspective== The U.S. relationship with guns often perplexes those in other developed countries, many of whom do not understand the unusual permissiveness of American gun laws, and believe that the American public should push for harsher gun control measures due to mass shootings.<ref>{{Cite web|title = The world is 'mystified' by America's enduring racism and 'bizarre' gun laws|url = https://www.businessinsider.com/the-world-is-mystified-by-americas-enduring-racism-and-bizarre-gun-laws-2015-6?r=US&IR=T|website = Business Insider|access-date = 2016-02-23}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|title = The Rest of the First World Is Astounded by America's Enduring Gun Culture|url = http://www.thewire.com/global/2012/07/rest-first-world-astounded-americas-enduring-gun-culture/54967/|website = The Wire|access-date = 2016-02-23|language = en-US}}</ref>{{Better source needed|date=April 2023}} Critics contrast the US reaction to terrorism given how few deaths it causes, with their high death rates from non-terror related gun crime.<ref>{{Cite web|title = Australian Gun Reformer: 'It's Time to Call Out the U.S.A.'|url = https://www.theatlantic.com/international/archive/2015/12/australia-tim-fischer-us-guns/418698/|website = The Atlantic|access-date = 2016-02-23|language = en-US|first = Uri|last = Friedman| date=5 December 2015 }}</ref><ref>{{Cite news|title = American gun use is out of control. Shouldn't the world intervene?|url = https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2013/sep/21/american-gun-out-control-porter|newspaper = The Guardian|date = 2013-09-21|access-date = 2016-02-23|issn = 0261-3077|language = en-GB}}</ref>{{Better source needed|date=April 2023}}
==See also== * [[Gun control]] * [[Gun ownership]] * [[Gun politics]] * [[Gun show loophole]] * [[Gun violence in the United States]] * [[Index of gun politics articles]] * [[Second Amendment sanctuary]]
==References== {{Reflist|30em}}
==External links== * {{cite magazine |title=Gun Culture |url=http://www.time.com/time/photogallery/0,29307,1886076,00.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090402185616/http://www.time.com/time/photogallery/0,29307,1886076,00.html |url-status=dead |archive-date=April 2, 2009 |magazine=[[TIME]] |date= March 18, 2009}} * {{cite news |title=US gun crime: death for sale |url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/2011/jan/10/us-gun-crime-gabrielle-giffords-jared-lee-loughner |newspaper=[[The Guardian]] |date=10 January 2011 |location=London |first=Ed |last=Pilkington}} * {{cite book | last=DeBrabander | first=Firmin | date=2015 | title=Do Guns Make Us Free?: Democracy and the Armed Society | publisher=Yale University Press | asin=B07CGH7R79}}
{{Firearms}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Gun Culture}} [[Category:Gun politics in the United States]] [[Category:Culture of the United States]] [[Category:Firearms in the United States]] [[Category:History of subcultures]] [[Category:Society of the United States]] [[Category:Gun violence in the United States]]