In his excellent book, The Gun Gap, political scientist Mark Joslyn highlights the ways in which gun owners and non-owners live in very different social worlds. For example, non-owners are much more likely than owners to say none of their friends own guns.
Consequently, much of what non-owners know about what gun owners do and think comes from mass media, traditional and social. Exactly the worst places to learn about something that is complex and nuanced.
For gun skeptics and the gun curious who want to learn more about how (some) gun owners think, I recommend journalist Stephen Gutowski’s The Reload podcast. It’s available on all the regular podcast apps and also on YouTube.
A particularly useful recent episode included David French discussing the Rittenhouse trial and verdict.
You won’t find any “from my cold dead hands!” or “molon labe” rhetoric, if that is a concern. Just two thoughtful individuals talking about the complexity of the situation. It really embodies my motto, “Light Over Heat.”
(ASIDE: I have shared my views on the Rittenhouse situation in an opinion essay in The Hill and on my Gun Culture 2.0 blog.)
Other notable recent episode include a discussion of race and guns with Atlantic writer Adam Sewer.
And investigative journalist Tim Mak who has recently published a book, Misfire: Inside the Downfall of the NRA.
And Chris Cheng, who 8 years ago I observed exemplifies Gun Culture 2.0.
Full disclosures: I am a paid subscriber to The Reload. I find Gutowski’s work worth paying for. I was also one of the first guests on The Reload podcast.
Gun Curious 