Guns have been a huge part of American culture for hundreds of years, even before the country existed. They played a significant role on the North American frontier for things like protection and hunting. For many years during the early days, the United States did not have a full time army and instead there were numerous different militia groups instead. These were made up of regular civilians that provided their own guns and fought against any incoming threats.
Changing times
This goes to show that guns of all kinds had a big importance and were in fact a necessary part of the American way of life. However, times have now changed and there is no longer such a necessity for citizens of the United States of America to be armed with a gun. Another reason for this is because America now has a huge and powerful military presence.
But just because times have changed, it does not necessarily mean that guns have become less popular. In fact, over the last decade, gun sales have actually massively increased. A lot of this increase has been in the types of assault rifles that are military grade. To understand why this is the case and why Americans love guns, you need to go back in time – back to the American civil war.
The American Civil War
Just after the war ended in 1871, the National Rifle Association (NRA) held a meeting with the sole purpose of not only promoting rifle marksmanship but also improving the quality of the training given. Previous to this, the NRA was nothing more than a club for gun owners but now things were going to change given the poor marksmanship that was on display during the American Civil War.
As time went on and the function and reach of the NRA changed, it started to have more influence over gun and firearm legislation. In fact, in 1975, the organization established a lobby arm known as the Institute for Legislative Action.
The Second Amendment
The Second Amendment is part of the Bill of Rights and states that American citizens are able to freely “bear arms”. This is a popular piece of legislation with many people in America and plenty of them want to show this to others by flying a flag. If this is something that you would like to do then you can get yourself a gun american flag from here.
Prior to the NRA impacting on the Second Amendment, guns were very much seen as a recreational thing. They were used for hunting and for target practice, and were generally used for fun. However, as time went on, guns, in America, have now become very relevant to the current way of life. This, in part, is thanks to the work and lobbying done by the NRA.
They created a need for guns even though crime rates and homicide rates had been falling for many decades. They quickly became something that was required in order to keep oneself safe.
