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posted by on Monday January 09 2017, @08:49PM   Printer-friendly
from the second-amendment dept.

The love of guns in the United States has been well documented, as have multiple mass shootings across the country such as those in Orlando, San Bernardino, Newtown, and Virginia. The ease of access to guns in American society comes at a shocking cost.

As of September 2016, almost 11,000 people have been killed as a result of gun violence. Despite this high death toll, mass shootings in America show no sign of disappearing.

The Stateside obsession with guns can appear baffling to UK observers unfamiliar with its origins. So just how did this gun culture become so deep-rooted in the American psyche?

BBC source: Why Are Americans so Obsessed with Guns?

Wikipedia: Gun politics in the United States


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  • (Score: 5, Informative) by EvilSS on Monday January 09 2017, @10:04PM

    by EvilSS (1456) Subscriber Badge on Monday January 09 2017, @10:04PM (#451681)
    It goes back farther than that. Gun control wasn't really a topic of political interest until after the Civil war. Suddenly southern states were trying to rewrite 100 years of case law and understanding of the meaning 2nd amendment to prevent newly freed blacks from being armed. The 2nd amendment being an individual right was never questioned from the time it was written until the end of slavery. Virtually all of the early gun control legislation in the US from the late 19th century up into the mid 20th was targeted specifically at keeping guns out of the hands of black citizens.
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