Gun culture

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

The gun culture is one shared by people on one of two sides in the gun politics debate, generally those who advocate preserving gun rights and who are against more gun control. In most countries, the term is used solely to identify gun advocates who are legitimate and legal owners and users of guns, using guns for self defense, sporting uses (hunting), and target shooting. It is also used indiscriminately and with bias in the UK to include both law-abiding target shooters and people who own guns illegally for criminal purposes, although this is not consistently applied.

To quote John Ross, "The gun culture is comprised of those people for whom shooting skills hold great importance." and "An estimated 100 million people in this country own at least one gun, but these are not all members of the gun culture." (Note: this country refers to the United States.) [1]

These two quotations provide a quick snapshot of the term gun culture, but there is more to gun culture.

The following are general traits shared by those within the gun culture:

• They share a belief that the Second Amendment to the United States Constitution is an individual right. Generally they see people as trustworthy and believe that others should be allowed to have guns unless they have proven otherwise.
• They share a belief that guns provide some level of protection against criminality and tyranny. This ranges from a feeling that it's good to have a gun around the house for self-protection, to an active distrust of government and a belief that widespread gun ownership is protection against tyranny.
• They are generally responsible with respect to firearms handling. They have an awareness (or internalization) of either Jeff Cooper's Four Rules [2] or the NRA's Three Rules [3], providing for some level of safe handling of guns and try to abide by them when handling firearms.
• They are shooting enthusiasts. Few members of the gun culture do not practice shooting on a regular basis.
• Gun rights associated with hunting and other outdoor sportsmen activities are widely supported in principle, although these activities are not always practiced by all within the gun culture.

While some Survivalists, Police, or Military are also members of the gun culture, not all are. There are survivalists who do not have firearms, police who have not fired their weapons in years, and members of the military who actively avoid shooting. What sets the members of the gun culture apart is their enthusiasm and continued participation in sharpening shooting skills over long periods of time. Members of the gun culture generally agree with the philosophy set forth by Boston T. Party that "ammo turns money into skill."

It should be noted that some aspects of gun culture do not apply the same in other countries as in the United States. Gun politics in Australia consists of just the two sides of gun control versus the gun rights of sportsmen, with no inclusion on the gun rights side of self-defence rights as in America, as there is no 2nd Amendment equivalent. Nonetheless, there are sizeable portions of Australia, mostly among rural areas, extending over three Australian states, where a well-established gun culture exists. Likewise, gun culture is significantly different in the UK. It is currently an offence for anyone to be in possession of one without a valid licence or reason.

In New Zealand, the minimum age for possessing a firearms or gun licence is 16. At this age, you may legally own a gun.