Date created: | Last Updated:

Category: Project

Description: American gun culture has undergone a profound change over the past half century, from a culture rooted in hunting and recreational shooting to one centered on armed citizenship and personal defense. As shorthand, I describe this as an evolution from Gun Culture 1.0 to Gun Culture 2.0. In this paper, I begin by giving a brief history of the rise of Gun Culture 2.0. I then propose a cultural approach to studying gun culture, based on a working definition of culture that emphasizes the ways in which culture helps us to understand the world by defining problems and prospects and helps us to act in the world by suggesting recipes and providing tools for action in relation to those problems and prospects. Here, objects of material culture like guns and gun-related accessories play an important role. Far from being static entities, in addressing the problems associated with carrying concealed weapons in everyday life, these technologies respond to and facilitate the cultural practice of gun carrying which is central to Gun Culture 2.0. I apply this cultural approach to studying gun culture using ethnographic observation of a Concealed Carry Expo to explore some of the many technologies that have been developed to help those who want to be armed citizens reconcile the competing demands of carrying a concealed handgun in public. These material culture technologies include guns and holsters, as well as products designed to address women’s specific carry needs.