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What guns mean: the symbolic lives of firearms

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  • Jonathan M. Metzl

    (Vanderbilt University)

Abstract

This article presents an overview of the symbolic tensions underlying representations of firearms and gun-related violence. The essay frames central questions that deserve further interrogation: what larger social and political contexts surround guns? How do narrations of gun rights or gun trauma map onto larger scripts about matters such as identity, bias, racism, or nationalism? What meanings do guns accrue for people and communities when these guns are not shooting bullets or causing mortal wounds? The paper lays out disciplinary terrain required to address these questions, calling on expertize from the social sciences, humanities, and arts.

Suggested Citation

  • Jonathan M. Metzl, 2019. "What guns mean: the symbolic lives of firearms," Palgrave Communications, Palgrave Macmillan, vol. 5(1), pages 1-5, December.
    • Handle: RePEc:pal:palcom:v:5:y:2019:i:1:d:10.1057_s41599-019-0240-y
    DOI: 10.1057/s41599-019-0240-y
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    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Lott, Jr., John R., 2010. "More Guns, Less Crime," University of Chicago Press Economics Books, University of Chicago Press, edition 3, number 9780226493664.
    2. Metzl, J.M. & MacLeish, K.T., 2015. "Mental Illness, mass shootings, and the politics of American firearms," American Journal of Public Health, American Public Health Association, vol. 105(2), pages 240-249.
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    Cited by:

    1. Claire Boine & Michael Siegel & Craig Ross & Eric W. Fleegler & Ted Alcorn, 2020. "What is gun culture? Cultural variations and trends across the United States," Palgrave Communications, Palgrave Macmillan, vol. 7(1), pages 1-12, December.
    2. Joseph M. Pierre, 2019. "The psychology of guns: risk, fear, and motivated reasoning," Palgrave Communications, Palgrave Macmillan, vol. 5(1), pages 1-7, December.
    3. Priya Satia, 2019. "What guns meant in eighteenth-century Britain," Palgrave Communications, Palgrave Macmillan, vol. 5(1), pages 1-6, December.
    4. Metzl, Jonathan M. & McKay, Tara & Piemonte, Jennifer L., 2021. "Structural competency and the future of firearm research," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 277(C).

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