I thought I had already posted about the publication of this article, but like many things as I age, my memory failed me. In any event, recall that in January 2023 I had the opportunity to share my views on American gun culture and gun violence at the 31st annual gathering of the Lutheran Ethicists’ Network (LEN).
An elaboration of the views I shared was published online in the open-access Journal of Lutheran Ethics back in April(!).
The article covers some familiar ground for those who follow my work closely, but puts brings my observations about American gun culture together in a way I haven’t yet.
It also more fully explores how we understand and misunderstand gun violence than I have done previously. I always am sure to tell anyone who wants me to talk about gun violence that my academic specialization is in gun normality not gun deviance, but I also think it is important for me to think about my work on guns in relation to negative outcomes. So, this part of the article is more novel.
It also anticipates some of what will be in the chapter of my forthcoming book Gun Curious that covers negative outcomes.
Gun Culture 2.0 
Hey David—
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div>Really enjoyed this and I think it’s a terrific reference. Wish any of my representatives here
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I would suggest that the number 75 million (in point #14) is most likely low as from point #24 the sales of firearms has been very high compared to history and many (10%?) are new gun owners. The 75 million number has been bandies about for years as a political point to say that the number of owners is decreasing and it is the same people buying the firearms. I think that gum owners in general have become reluctant to admit ownership, especially in phone surveys, because of potential backlash. Very few people at my workplace know that I own a gun or even my political opinions as my workplace is fairly to the left.
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Definitely agree! See footnote #22.
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Great article David! One of the things I would like to see you mention is that one of the problems with gun violence statistics is that a number of people and studies when they speak of “gun homicides” or “gun homicide rate” they combine gun murders and gun suicides. In my own state of California those on the side of increased gun regulation like to cite California’s low “gun homicide rate” especially it being among the lowest of all the states, but if you look at California’s gun murder rate as opposed to a combined murder and suicide rate, it only ranks somewhere in the mid 30s among all the states. In some of your charts it was unclear if you were talking about gun murder rate or combined gun murder and gun suicide rate.
By the way there is some data that suggests that raising the minimum wage lowers the suicide rate, gun and otherwise.
Again, great article.
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I categorically refuse to use the neologism, ‘gun violence’, as it amounts to the answer begging the question. When someone commits suicide by shooting themselves, it’s labeled ‘gun violence’; when they do so by jumping out a window, it’s called suicide, not ‘gravity violence.’
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Very sympathetic to this critique. Sometimes I highlight it. E.g., 8 years ago I wrote a blog post about it. https://gunculture2point0.wordpress.com/2015/11/29/there-is-no-such-thing-as-gun-violence-in-general/
“I do believe that fundamentally there is no such thing as gun violence in general. There are specific acts of violence involving guns with specific phenomenologies, etiologies, and outcomes.”
Other times I’m happy to accept the term and just try to be very clear about what I’m talking about.
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Thanks for taking the time to read and comment. In distinguishing between homicide and suicide I do try to highlight the difference you note. Could bear repeating, though.
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