This is the fourth of several student gun range field trip reflection essays from my fall 2023 Sociology of Guns seminar (see Reflection #1, Reflection #2, and Reflection #3). The assignment to which students are responding can be found here. I am grateful to these students for their willingness to have their thoughts shared publicly.Continue reading ““I Personally Sit in a Weird Place When It Comes to Guns” (Fall 2023 Student Range Visit Reflection #4)”
Tag Archives: race
President Philip Smith’s Vision for the National African American Gun Association (Light Over Heat #62)
I attended the first National Convention of the National African American Gun Association (NAAGA) in Atlanta a few weeks ago. On “Light Over Heat” this week, I published the second of two planned videos reflecting on the event. The first video covered what exactly NAAGA is, why it exists, and what it tries to accomplish.Continue reading “President Philip Smith’s Vision for the National African American Gun Association (Light Over Heat #62)”
What I Learned about the National African American Gun Association at Their National Convention (Light Over Heat #61)
I attended the first National Convention of the National African American Gun Association (NAAGA) in Atlanta a couple of weeks ago. On “Light Over Heat” this week, I published the first of two planned videos reflecting on the event. NAAGA occupies a unique position in American gun culture today, so I spend a good amountContinue reading “What I Learned about the National African American Gun Association at Their National Convention (Light Over Heat #61)”
Talking About Violence in the Asian American Community, Especially the Recent Half Moon Bay Mass Murder
RE-POSTING FROM MY GUN CULTURE 2.0 BLOG I am Asian-American (half Japanese-American on my father’s side) and grew up in Half Moon Bay, California. The coincidence of this with the mass murder of 7 people in Half Moon Bay by an Asian man led to a conversation recently with Randy Miyan on the Liberal GunContinue reading “Talking About Violence in the Asian American Community, Especially the Recent Half Moon Bay Mass Murder”
Something Other Than Objective Risk Motivates Defensive Gun Ownership (Light Over Heat #46)
This video concludes my ongoing series systematizing the dominant academic approach to understanding Gun Culture 2.0, what I call “The Standard Model of Explaining the Irrationality of Defensive Gun Ownership.” Here I engage the 5th of the model’s 5 points: That something other than objective risk motivates defensive gun ownership. From a sociological perspective, thatContinue reading “Something Other Than Objective Risk Motivates Defensive Gun Ownership (Light Over Heat #46)”
Race, BLM, Gun Ownership, and Views of January 6 Protesters (Light Over Heat #39)
A colleague, Ryan Jerome Lecount of Hamline University, pointed me to a recently published study of how race, support for Black Lives Matter, and gun ownership shape people’s views of protesters at the U.S. Capitol on January 6, 2021. The results are interesting and complex and complement a few previous videos on this channel (seeContinue reading “Race, BLM, Gun Ownership, and Views of January 6 Protesters (Light Over Heat #39)”
“The Gun Felt More Like a Dangerous Tool Instead of the Killing Machine I Thought It Was” (Fall 2022 Student Range Visit Reflection #4)
This is the fourth of several student gun range field trip reflection essays from my fall 2022 Sociology of Guns seminar (see reflection #1 and reflection #2 and reflection #3). The assignment to which students are responding can be found here. I am grateful to these students for their willingness to have their thoughts sharedContinue reading ““The Gun Felt More Like a Dangerous Tool Instead of the Killing Machine I Thought It Was” (Fall 2022 Student Range Visit Reflection #4)”
Light Over Heat #24: My Thoughts on the Murder of Ahmaud Arbery
This week’s episode features audio of comments I made for the Liberal Gun Owners Lens Podcast series on the murder of Ahmaud Arbery. I try to recognize both the importance of understanding race/racism in American history, and hence gun culture historically, and also the importance of recognizing that this is not essential to American gunContinue reading “Light Over Heat #24: My Thoughts on the Murder of Ahmaud Arbery”
Light Over Heat #22: Further Thoughts Post-Buffalo Thanks to Intellectual Diversity
In my last video (Light Over Heat #21), I commented on guns and race, racism, and white supremacy in the wake of the Buffalo mass murder. The comments I received, even the critical ones, were generally very respectful and constructive. Given the name and mission of my YouTube channel — “Light Over Heat” — IContinue reading “Light Over Heat #22: Further Thoughts Post-Buffalo Thanks to Intellectual Diversity”
Light Over Heat #21: Talking Guns and Race Post-Buffalo
This week I was supposed to post a video commemorating the 20th consecutive weekly episode of “Light Over Heat”. But the dark side of life intervened in the form of a white supremacist mass murder in Buffalo, New York. So I quickly recorded some thoughts on guns and race. This is a first word notContinue reading “Light Over Heat #21: Talking Guns and Race Post-Buffalo”
Gun Curious 