Understanding America’s Obsession with Guns: How Did We Get Where We Are?

TLDR: A review of American history and popular culture in film provides insights into why so many Americans distrust national government, why there is so much fear of "the other,” why there are so much anger, and why Americans are so obsessed with guns.

Abstract: This article is the result of my attempts to dialogue with gun advocates beginning with blogs about gun control for Psychology Today Online in 2012, after the Aurora shootings. A review of American history and popular culture in film provides insights into why so many Americans distrust national government, why there is so much fear of “the other,” why there is so much anger, and why Americans are so obsessed with guns. The Revolutionary War and the Civil War created an inherent suspicion of government that still persists, and the country evolved an ongoing fear of the other beginning with Native Americans and slavery, which has continued with fear of the Mafia after WWI, fear of communists after WWII, fear of Muslims after 9/11, and fear of “illegal aliens” after the most recent recession. American film developed while the country was still fighting Native Americans. The industry was influenced by war documentaries and strains to maintain audiences with ever-increasing violence and special effect...