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A pile of guns and rifle magazines on top of bullets.

More Guns, More Money: How America Turned Weapons Into a Consumer Commodity

How an American arms dealer and a surplus of guns in Europe after World War II popularized gun ownership.
by Andrew C. McKevitt via Literary Hub on September 12, 2024
A gun shop in Dunedin, Florida.

America Fell for Guns Recently, and for Reasons You Will Not Guess

The US today has extraordinary levels of gun ownership. But to see this as a venerable tradition is to misread history.
by Megan Kang via Aeon on April 9, 2024
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
Hand holding a gun painted like the American flag.

The Real Origins of America’s Gun Culture

“Gun Country” chronicles the transformation of guns from tangible weapons to ideological ammunition during the Cold War.
by Becca Rothfeld via Washington Post on November 9, 2023
Exhibit

Guns in America

Reflections on the Second Amendment's original meaning, and how views about gun rights, gun ownership, and gun violence have evolved in the centuries since.
Seized guns on a table in front of a police press conference.
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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
Formal daguerreotype photograph of an African American corporal, holding a Colt model 1849 pocket revolver.

From Negro Militias To Black Armament

Guns have always loomed large in Black people's lives — going all the way back to the days of colonial slavery, explains reporter Alain Stephens from The Trace.
by Natalie Escobar, Gene Demby, Alain Stephens via NPR on December 22, 2020
Portrait of George Washington in his military uniform.

The Gun Guy and Illegal Militia Founder Who Became President: George Washington

Our first President understood that armed citizens are essential to American freedom.
by David Kopel via Reason on February 17, 2020

How Portraiture Gave Rise to the Glamour of Guns

American portraiture with its visual allure and pictorial storytelling made gun ownership desirable.
by Kim Sajet via Smithsonian on March 23, 2018
Civil War rifles mounted on wall

The Brutal Origins of Gun Rights

A new history argues that the Second Amendment was intended to perpetuate white settlers' violence toward Native Americans.
by Patrick Blanchfield via The New Republic on December 11, 2017
Civil War rifles mounted on wall
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Straight Shot: Guns in America

On who has had access to guns in the U.S., and what those guns have meant to the people who have owned them.
via BackStory on January 25, 2013
Photo collage showing an anti-abortion rally, a same-sex marriage, and the Supreme Court, among other things.

How U.S. Public Opinion Has Changed in 20 Years of Our Surveys

We took a closer look at how Americans’ views and experiences have evolved on a variety of topics over the last 20 years.
by Jenn Hatfield via Pew Research Center on September 13, 2024
A collage of Meir Kahane, a pistol, and the outline of Israel and Palestine on a yellow background.

The American Origins of Israel’s Armament Campaign

How Kahanism infiltrated the political mainstream.
by Rafi Reznik via The Dial on December 5, 2023
Police standing outside Luby's Cafeteria after the 1991 mass shooting.

The Massacre That Turned Texas Into the Most Gun-Friendly State in America

The effects of the 1991 mass shooting at a Luby's in Killeen can still be felt today—in the legislature and on our streets.
by Emily McCullar via Texas Monthly on November 14, 2023
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
The Yuchi people dressed for hunting

What a Historical Analysis of Gunpowder Can Teach Us About Gun Culture in the United States

An understanding of the history of gunpowder might be able to tell us how and why guns have become so widely accessible in the present-day United States.
by Jennifer Monroe McCutchen via The Panorama on October 2, 2023
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
Revolutionary War reenactors shooting muskets.

“Originalist” Arguments Against Gun Control Get U.S. History Completely Wrong

Gun control is actually an American tradition.
by Mary C. Curtis, Robert J. Spitzer via Slate on May 3, 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
Chicago Mayor Richard J. Daley delivering the welcoming address to delegates at the Democratic National Convention in Chicago, on Aug. 26, 1968. BETTMANN ARCHIVE, VIA GETTY IMAGES

How Chicago Got Its Gun Laws

It’s nearly impossible to separate modern-day gun laws from race.
by Lakeidra Chavis via The Marshall Project on March 24, 2023
A father and son stand in front of an illustration of a circular target, while the son holds a small gun.

American as Apple Pie

How marketing made guns a fundamental element of contemporary boyhood.
by Rachael Kay Albers via JSTOR Daily on October 19, 2022
A picture of the front of the Supreme Court.

The Supreme Court’s Faux ‘Originalism’

The conservative Supreme Court's favorite judicial philosophy requires a very, very firm grasp of history — one that none of the justices seem to possess.
by Joshua Zeitz via Politico Magazine on June 26, 2022
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
Gun rights advocates holding Second Amendment rally at which police officer Dick Heller spoke, at the State Capitol in Frankfort, Kentucky, January 31, 2020.

The Remaking of the Second Amendment

The Supreme Court’s expanding interpretation of the Second Amendment threatens longstanding democratic authority to enact gun safety measures.
by Reva B. Siegel, Duncan Hosie via New York Review of Books on June 10, 2022
Timothy McVeigh in a prison jumpsuit surrounded by law enforcement agents.
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Extremism in America: The Oklahoma City Bombing

Neo-Nazi propaganda, military deployment and the F.B.I. raid in Waco, Texas, radicalized Timothy McVeigh and led to the Oklahoma City attack.
via Retro Report on April 26, 2022
An image of the weapon used during the Newtown school shooting is displayed while attorney Josh Koskoff speaks during a news conference.
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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

Why So Many Guns on Christmas Cards? Because Jesus was ‘Manly and Virile.’

Muscular Christianity — with scriptural interpretations that can favor “stand your ground” over “turn the other cheek” — has a long tradition in the U.S.
by Peter Manseau via Washington Post on December 14, 2021

How the Modern NRA Was Born at the Border

A conversation between a historian and the creator of a new documentary short about NRA leader Harlon Carter.
by Roxanne Dunbar-Ortiz, Sierra Pettengill via Boston Review on May 7, 2021

The Historical Profession's Greatest Modern Scandal, Two Decades Later

Emory professor Michael Bellesiles resigned in the midst of a political firestorm. He still stands by his work.
by Bill Black via The Week on September 18, 2019

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
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