(Gun) Culture
Publicola - another good essay about the individualist Scots-Irish culture that shaped America and is largely responsible for our gun culture. Unfortunately, lots of other, collectivist, cultures share our melting pot. [publicola]
It's the culture, stupid.
My people didn't view guns as a symbol of murder & mayhem. They saw them as tools or as components for sport. No one wanted to hurt anyone else & they couldn't understand when someone else did for what seemed to them an unjustifiable reason. Conversely if someone shot someone else that was breaking into their home they understood. No one wanted to be in that place but they damn sure didn't condemn anyone for defending themselves.
The people I see now - in 2006 in Colorado - are different. Not that they're all like I'm about to describe but there's a noticeable increase in the number of folks who don't approve of anyone having a firearm. Self defense is condemned by them even under the most justifiable (to me) circumstances. The mere picture of a firearm frightens them.
This is the anti-gun culture. It's not dominant but it's large enough to be influential.
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