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A photograph of an AR-15 rifle, a pistol, and a knife in camoflage print, as well as bullets and a pair of gloves.

Give Your Mom a Gun

America’s favorite gun.
by Geoff Mann via London Review of Books on March 1, 2024
AR-15 with the American flag attatched.

The Curse of the AR-15

How the gun became a cultural icon—and unmade America.
by Colin Dickey via The New Republic on October 23, 2023
Close-up of the safety trigger on a handgun

“Come and Take It”: How the Aftermath of Sandy Hook Led to More AR-15s Being Sold Than Ever Before

Chris Waltz was appalled. He felt Democrats were using the Sandy Hook tragedy to tell him he wasn’t responsible enough to own an AR-15.
by Cameron McWhirter, Zusha Elinson via Literary Hub on October 2, 2023
AR-15 trigger, with banner of AR-15 on Confederate monument behind

How the AR-15 Became an American Brand

The rifle is a consumer product to which advertisers successfully attached an identity—one that has translated to a particularly intractable politics.
by Emily Witt via The New Yorker on September 27, 2023
Image of an AR-15

The Gun that Divides a Nation

The AR-15 thrives in times of tension and tragedy. This is how it came to dominate the marketplace – and loom so large in the American psyche.
by Alex Horton, Josh Dawsey, Todd C. Frankel, Shawn Boburg, Ashley Park via Washington Post on March 27, 2023
AR-15

Varmints, Soldiers and Looming Threats: See the Ads Used to Sell the AR-15

Through six decades, gunmakers and advertisers leveraged social and cultural changes to broaden the AR-15′s appeal.
by Alex Horton, Monique Woo, Tucker Harris via Washington Post on March 27, 2023
The modified SWD M-11/9s used in the Monterey Park Shooting

Monterey Park: Who Made the Gun?

A relic of '80s scofflaw gun culture is still lethal.
by Mathew Dessem via Popula on January 27, 2023
A picture of an assault rifle on a red background.

The Rifle That Ruined America

As an NRA-approved icon and the mass shooter’s weapon of choice, the AR-15 has done untold harm.
by Ryan Busse via The Atlantic on June 15, 2022

A Lynch Mob of One

The assault rifle has enabled racists to act alone.
by Ibram X. Kendi via The Atlantic on August 8, 2019

The Real Reason Congress Banned Assault Weapons in 1994 — And Why It Worked

The ban's critics say it failed to prevent gun violence, but they're misinterpreting the law's intent.
by Christopher Ingraham via Washington Post on February 22, 2018

When Prohibition Works

What the government's successful clampdown on Quaaludes can teach us about gun control.
by Alex Pareene via Splinter on February 15, 2018

Recoil Operation

The U.S. has long supplied the world with AR-15 rifles. But only when we see its grim effects at home do politicians call for restricting its sale.
by Patrick Blanchfield via The New Inquiry on July 11, 2016

A Brief History of the Assault Rifle

The genealogy of a killing machine.
by Michael Shurkin via The Atlantic on June 30, 2016
A soldier on a tank, aiming an M-16 rifle.

M-16: A Bureaucratic Horror Story

Why the rifles jammed.
by James Fallows via The Atlantic on June 1, 1981
Collage showing people gathering at the site of school shootings.

The Second Generation of School Shootings

The fear that overtook us that day in 1988 was unfamiliar to most Americans. Now all too many know how it feels.
by Sarah Churchwell via The Atlantic on May 23, 2023
The Branch Davidians compound in Waco, Texas, consumed by flames.

What Really Happened at Waco

Thirty years later, an avoidable tragedy has spawned a politically ascendant mythology.
by Rachel Monroe via The New Yorker on April 12, 2023
A man holding a gun in a gun shop.
partner

The Gun-Control Effort That Almost Stopped Our Addiction to ‘Weapons of War’

The 1968 Gun Control Act had the right idea — but it came too late.
by Andrew C. McKevitt via Made By History on April 27, 2021

Assault Weapons Preserve the Purpose of the Second Amendment

Banning them would gut the concept of an armed citizenry as a final, emergency bulwark against tyranny.
by David French via National Review on February 21, 2018
Painting of the signing of the Constitution.

The Gun Argument That’s Not Even Wrong

Why the “Founders’ Intent” doesn’t matter.
by Yonatan Zunger via NewCo Shift on October 2, 2017
Police officer, yellow tape, and abandoned bikes and lawnchairs after the Highland Park shooting.
partner

How Gun Violence and the Supreme Court Have Shaped Second Amendment Rights

Supreme Court rulings on gun laws highlight the struggle to balance individual rights and public safety.
via Retro Report on January 24, 2025
President Clinton pursing his lips, while Newt Gingrich looks at him from behind.
partner

Midterm Elections: How 1994 Midterms Set Off an Era of Divisive Politics

Economic and social issues with roots in the 1994 midterms are still being debated today.
via Retro Report on August 25, 2022
An image of the weapon used during the Newtown school shooting is displayed while attorney Josh Koskoff speaks during a news conference.
partner

The Sandy Hook Settlement Could Transform the Centuries-Old Marketing of Guns

Since the mid-19th century, manufacturers have marketed guns to white men, especially young ones.
by Tracy L. Barnett via Made By History on February 23, 2022
Seized guns on a table in front of a police press conference.
partner

Gun Capitalism — Not ‘Ghost Guns’ or Other Trends — Is to Blame for Gun Violence

There are more than 400 million guns in Americans' hands.
by Andrew C. McKevitt via Made By History on December 5, 2021
Diagram of a Spencer rifle.

From Spencer Rifles to M-16s: A History Of The Weapons US Troops Wield In War

Muzzleloaders have evolved into smart-style automatic firearms in just 150 years.
by Richard S. Faulkner, Jeff Schogol via Task & Purpose on July 10, 2018
FDR flashing the victory sign.

Franklin Roosevelt: The Father of Gun Control

One of the great pieces of unfinished business for the Democratic Party.
by Adam Winkler via The New Republic on December 19, 2012

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