A well regulated Militia,
being necessary to the security of a free State,
the right of the
people to keep and bear Arms, shall not be infringed
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| Sporty Hunting Ensembles |
The very clear statement of the 2nd Amendment, ratified December 15, 1791, was that Americans needed a well regulated militia to protect themselves and control their newly conquered environment from the indigenous people. Nowhere in this Amendment is "handgun" or "assault weapon" mentioned. These former colonists used their "arms" to hunt game, the primary role for one's musket. Today, those "militias" are known as the National Guard.
So, how did a militia to protect the citizens from armed combatants (not the U.S. government) become an armed individual who is paranoid that the U.S. government is going to take away their "2nd Amendment Rights"? Or a self-described "militia" who has decided they can take over public (aka OUR) land? A "right" that makes it easier to buy a gun than to get on an airplane.
How did America go from this....
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| 18th c. Militia |
to this...
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| Shopping for an assault weapon |
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| Assault Weapons at a Gun Show |
and this...
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| Sandy Hook |
Answers to these questions require a much longer and more intense explanation than this blog can provide, and they are better left to a dissertation, a newspaper op-ed, or Guns in America 101. So, this post is about how guns have been glamorized in the media and in film.
Our first shootin' media star was Annie Oakley, who could
split a playing card, edge-on, and put several more holes in it before it could touch the ground, while using a .22 caliber rifle, at 90 feet (27 m). Annie traveled with Buffalo Bill's Wild West Show and became an international sensation.
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| Annie Oakley aka Phoebe Ann Mosey |
Celebrity marksmen evolved into celebrity criminals,
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| Gun Totin' Bonnie Parker |
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| '30s Glamour Crime Bosses |
which led to pulp fiction
and to the movies.
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| Un-named 30's Gangster Film |
Guns and violence became part of film's legacy.
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| James Cagney |
By the '40's and Film Noir, women were packing, and the pistol became the symbol of The Dame.
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| Barbara Stanwyck in Double Indemnity |
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| Claire Trevor in Murder, My Sweet |
The Dame evolved into the strong, powerful woman who could take care of herself and everybody else...if she had a gun, just like the men.
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| Spaghetti Western |
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| Angelina Jolie as Lara Croft |
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| Alan Ladd and Brandon deWilde in Shane |
and of course...
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| John Wayne in Stagecoach |
So, when did guns become sexy? During the Cold War and the era of spies.
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| Daniel Craig as Bond...James Bond |
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A Bond Girl
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These were not feminist statements.Just as with men, a woman with a gun is not a stronger, more courageous human.
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| 1950 |
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| Patty Hearst with the Simbianese Liberation Army |
She is simply a hunter, a criminal, or someone who lives in a world of fear-mongering, where being armed is equated with being safe. How has the media and popular culture contributed to the last example? How has the glorification and glamorization of gun culture through music, film, books, and television contributed to the statistics of gun violence in America? Here are two excellent articles on this subject.
https://www.yahoo.com/news/violence-baked-popular-culture-080655362.html?ref=gs
http://www.medialit.org/reading-room/making-connections-medias-role-our-culture-violence
The tremendous amount of money that is made off of our gun-infused culture ensures that no change in attitude will ever be instituted...that ship has long since sailed. Clearly, to reduce gun violence in America, common sense gun laws have to be enacted. After all, the creators of the Constitution probably never envisioned that an "armed militia" would manifest itself as Americans with arsenals of assault weapons.
