It’s Not Just American Guns, It’s The American Gun Culture

If we can limit both the supply and the fetishistic demand for guns, we can begin to roll back this age of mass murder in our public spaces.

by Bob Cesca

WASHINGTON, DC – As we recover from the crushing sadness and mind-blowing frustration in the wake of the latest mass murder of children, this time in Nashville, a clear majority of Americans continue to support reasonable and obvious regulations to limit the supply of these deadly retail products. 

But what about the demand? What about the uniquely American compulsion to collect these weapons -- specifically, the family of military-cosplay ARs and other semi-automatic weapons? It seems as though simply limiting the supply will unintentionally spike demand. Knowing this, there has to be a concurrent national effort to address the demand side of this deadly equation. 

Specifically, we have no choice but to minimize, as much as possible, the pervasiveness of our gun culture.

Firearms are genetically linked with Americanism. As we thumb through our national history, it’s impossible not to observe how our revolutionary founding, the glorification of war, and the romance of the Wild West have collectively embedded guns into our national DNA, more so than any other industrialized nation. Even our generational traditions, our relics handed down from parents to children, involve an unnecessary reverence for guns.