Gun culture in the United States refers to the behaviors, attitudes, and beliefs surrounding the ownership and use of firearms by private citizens. Gun ownership is deeply rooted in the country's hist
Firearms became readily identifiable symbols of westward expansion.
Calamity Jane, pioneer frontierswoman and scout, at age 43. Photo by H.R. Locke.
Black Panther Party armed demonstration at the Washington State Capitol on February 28, 1969
A handbill for Buffalo Bill's Wild West and Congress of Rough Riders of the World
In the context of gun violence in the United States, there are two primary opposing ideologies regarding private firearm ownership: gun control and gun rights.
Gun culture in the United States
…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, typically aligned with conservative or libertarian views, emphasize the importance of the Second Amendment…
Gun politics date to Colonial America. (Lexington Minuteman, representing John Parker, by Henry Hudson Kitson stands at the town green of Lexington, Massachusetts.)
Representative John A. Bingham of Ohio, principal framer of the Fourteenth Amendment
Political cartoon by Frederick Burr Opper published in Puck magazine shortly after the assassination of James A. Garfield