ABSTRACT
Firearms have a long history. For now, the focus will be on the current US prototype concept of firearms: a portable weapon firing a projectile. Moving from this forensic psychological focus toward a cultural one, the idea of culture as a weapon that can be deployed alongside actual firearms emerges from an analysis of the way that the US Army homogenized and distorted the diversity in Iraqi culture in its training manuals. US gun culture projects a romantic frontier image with a long historical lineage, and this along with its relatively less restrictive firearms policies makes the United States a destination for gun tourism—for example, from highly gun-restrictive China. US gun culture can be debated within and outside the United States; a comprehensive background source is Utter.
