Going Native: 5 Years in the unapologetic world of firearms-loving America

• In Event: Firearm Policies, Public Perceptions, and Public Policy

Abstract

One can easily view politics in the United States as a polarized, media-driven, and meanspirited slugfest. We experience moral panic after moral panic, with passionate debate replacing civil discourse regarding who we are as a nation. Here I examine first-hand the world of firearms enthusiasts standing at what Bourdieu labeled "the borderlands". Massachusetts controls the possession and use of firearms with a firm legal hand, while New Hampshire has declared itself a "Constitutional Possession" state-with no laws governing the possession of all manner of firearms except as proscribed by Federal statute. Both states have relatively low rates of gun-related crime;surprisingly New Hampshire has the edge. Nearing the end of my academic career, I engaged in more than 5 years of ethnographic fieldwork exploring gun culture in both states-seeking greater insight to the sometimes inconvenient reality that, for better or worse, a plurality of Americans have chosen to live as an armed society.

Author

• Mitchell Librett, Bridgewater State University