“Tener armas es ser Americano”: Immigrant Gun Ownership and Belonging in America

• In Event: Latina/o Sociology Section Open Call Paper Session

Abstract

In what sense can gun ownership constitute a practice of belonging? Drawing on in-depth semi-structured interviews with 20 Latino and Caribbean immigrant gun owners in Florida, I argue that belonging is negotiated through firearms on two fronts: as a means of securing safety in a heavily armed society and as a tool for crafting moral legitimacy. Immigrants in this study frame firearms as the only reliable protection against unpredictable danger resolving what they see as an unavoidable security dilemma in the U.S. At the same time, guns function as symbolic resources through which claims to civic virtue are made (Carlson 2015). By emphasizing legality, restraint, and responsibility, participants distinguished themselves from undocumented immigrants, criminalized figures, and reckless gun “fanatics.” These findings demonstrate that firearms are not only tools of self-defense but also contested symbols through which immigrants claim membership, negotiate boundaries, and reshape American gun culture.

Author

• Melissa Hurtado Nuez, Rice University