My writing accountability partner recently turned me on to Google Ngram. The search engine lets you you electronically comb through millions of books in Google’s database for certain words or phrases. (You can read about the technical details on Google or Wikipedia.) I searched for the phrase “concealed carry” as a case-insensitive phrase and theContinueContinue reading “Concealed Carry Fun with Google Ngram”
Category Archives: Guns
Mencken and Froese on the Sources and Strength of America’s Gun Culture
As I noted in my last post, scholars associated with the 2014 Baylor Religion Survey held a session at the recent annual meeting of the Society for the Scientific Study of Religion unveiling their data. (Of course, this is more of a tease since the data will not be publicly available for a year orContinueContinue reading “Mencken and Froese on the Sources and Strength of America’s Gun Culture”
Faith and Firearms in the 2014 Baylor Religion Survey
Having begun my sojourn from the sociology of religion to the study of American gun culture a couple of years ago, I was excited to make a “homecoming” of sorts by attending the annual meeting of the Society for the Scientific Study of Religion in Indianapolis this past weekend. I was there to present myContinueContinue reading “Faith and Firearms in the 2014 Baylor Religion Survey”
Scrutinizing Claims About Guns in Homes as a “Risk Factor” for Homicide in the Home
Getting into the sociology of guns has been both fascinating and frustrating. The fascination comes from deeply immersing myself in something entirely new to me. The frustration comes in attempting to understand the reality of guns in a scholarly – that is, objective and nuanced – manner. In the sociology of guns, the line demarcatingContinueContinue reading “Scrutinizing Claims About Guns in Homes as a “Risk Factor” for Homicide in the Home”
A Letter to My Future Students
I am participating in a faculty Writing Associates Seminar, in which we are learning to integrate writing more intelligently and productively into our courses. For an upcoming retreat, our seminar leader asked us to write a letter to our future students about what we hope they will get out of our class. I wrote theContinueContinue reading “A Letter to My Future Students”
Oral Arguments in the Supreme Court
On my Gun Culture 2.0 blog recently I wrote about attending a talk by an attorney who had argued recently before the Supreme Court of the United States (SCOTUS). One of the most interesting things I have done in my time in Washington, DC is to go see oral arguments in the SCOTUS. Back inContinueContinue reading “Oral Arguments in the Supreme Court”
Official Catholic View of Use of Lethal Force in Self-Defense
Miguel at the Gun Free Zone blog posted recently about a new book by a Texas police officer called Jesus Christ on Killing. I expect to see evangelical Christians taking this position, but Miguel brings to light some interesting passages from the Catechism of the Catholic Church that I had not previously read: The seldomContinueContinue reading “Official Catholic View of Use of Lethal Force in Self-Defense”
Jennifer Dawn Carlson on Gun Politics in America
As part of my ongoing effort to understand “Gun Culture 2.0,” I was fortunate recently to host a leading sociologist studying American gun culture, Jennifer Dawn Carlson. Dr. Carlson is an assistant professor at the University of Toronto, but despite working north of the border she is an American and primarily studies American society. SheContinueContinue reading “Jennifer Dawn Carlson on Gun Politics in America”
Gun Digest Magazine Shows How NOT to Create a Pie Chart
Thumbing through the February 13, 2014 issue of Gun Digest magazine, I was excited to see data on a recent survey of first-time gun buyers, attributed to the National Shooting Sports Foundation (NSSF), the trade association for the shooting, hunting and firearms industry. Two pie charts, shown below, describe (1) the percentage of new shootersContinueContinue reading “Gun Digest Magazine Shows How NOT to Create a Pie Chart”
Reflections on My Reflections on Gun Culture Based on Site Statistics
Since November 2012, when I first started working in earnest on a new research project on American gun culture, I have tried to blog regularly at Gun Culture 2.0. I have been averaging about 5 posts a month since then, which is pretty good compared to my previous attempts at blogging (like on this blog).ContinueContinue reading “Reflections on My Reflections on Gun Culture Based on Site Statistics”