The Sacralization of the Firearm: A Theoretical Exploration of Ritualized Performance Found in American Gun Culture

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Abstract

The purpose of this paper is to conduct a theoretical exegesis of Wayne LaPierre’s speech by way of the strong program in cultural sociology (Alexander & Smith, 2018). In this case, culture functions not as a mirror but rather a semi-autonomous, meaning-making motor that operates under its own logic and is causally powerful. Drawing from the works of Durkheim, Zerubavel, and Worrell, I argue that the inflammatory rhetoric found in many pro-gun speeches are a function of ritualized performances that articulate and reproduce a moral and symbolic structure. More specifically, through theoretical exegesis and cultural coding, LaPierre’s speech is analyzed as a cultural text that frames firearms as moral signifiers infused with existential meaning and collective identity. This analysis ultimately situates American gun zealotry within a broader framework of symbolic power, ritual reaffirmation, and the sacred/profane binary, which serves to demonstrate how meaning is constructed, sustained, and defended.

Keywords: Cultural sociology, strong program, religion, firearms, American gun culture.

Author

• Bailey Tanaka, CUNY Graduate Center