ABSTRACT
This chapter examines changes in the core of American gun culture through a content analysis of advertisements in The American Rifleman magazine for every year from 1918 to 2017. There are a number of differences between Gun Culture 1.0 and Gun Culture 2.0, but most significantly, Gun Culture 1.0 was grounded in sport shooting and hunting, and Gun Culture 2.0 is centered on personal/family/home defense and concealed carry. The data show that the predominance of Gun Culture 1.0 themes in advertising persists through the 1970s and into the 1980s, when the center of gravity of gun culture begins to shift decisively toward the Gun Culture 2.0 themes of personal protection/defense and concealed carry. Adapting the work of Elizabeth Saylor, Katherine Vittes and Susan Sorenson, content analysis began with nine themes: technical superiority, hunting, collecting, military, law enforcement, sport/recreation, tactical, personal protection/self-defense/home or family defense, and concealed carry.
