1. Introduction: What About Guns -- 2. Gun Ownership as "Normal?" -- The Cowboy Way -- The Gender Performance -- Managing and Negotiating Emotions -- Warrior Narratives -- Gun Laws "In the News" -- 3. Making Science Out of Gun Ownership -- Data Analysis -- Credibility -- Human Subjects Consideration -- 4. Considering Popular Music -- Guns and Music -- Gun Lyric Sources -- Guns: The Badass/Masculinity Factor -- Gun as High Comedy? -- Guns as a Ritual Site -- Protecting the Masculine Center of Guns in Music -- 5. A Day at The Gun Event -- Schedule of Events Attended -- What to Expect to Find at Your Local Gun Show? -- Guns: A Masculine Symbol of Power -- Media Images as an Institutional Influence -- Protecting the Masculine Center of Guns -- Deference and Demeanor-Based Gun Rituals -- 6. Management of Suspect Identities -- Stigmatization -- Managing Stigma -- Individual Stigma Management Strategies -- Collective Stigma Management Strategies -- In Group Strategies -- 7. Discussion and Implications -- Appendix A. Semi-Structured Interview Schedule -- Appendix B. Subject Consent Form -- Appendix C. Glossary of Gun Terms -- Appendix D. Approach Script -- Appendix E. Me Out in the Field
Summary
Taylor focuses on the value that gun owners place on their guns and the possibility that different guns mean different things to their owners. His research explores the symbolic meaning of guns, and the ways in which the meaning assigned to guns influences gun ownership and use. Some of the more interesting findings center around conversations with gun collectors and enthusiasts about a series of interaction rituals; rituals pertaining to being a gun owner, a gun user, and possibly even the gun as an object of near-worship. Gun owners also recognize a unique stigma, and respond through a compl
