Why do Americans want to own guns?

by Abha Malpani on

I remain baffled by how it’s legal to own a gun in the United States. I think even the option of having one is like saying it’s OK to kill if you have a good reason.

According to a recent piece in Newsweek there are 215 million guns in America — i.e. more than half the households across the country own one.

This statistic triggered photographer and author of “Armed America” Kyle Cassidy to travel 15,000 miles across the country to ask people who own guns “why do own a gun?”, and take portraits of them in their homes.

Some of the reasons were just beyond my comprehension:

  • “My shotgun will take care of any intruder, and I know how to use it.”
  • “I own a shotgun for the same reason I own a fire extinguisher.”
  • “Gun ownership is a right and privilege, everyone should exercise it. I think everyone should have one, on the range, on the playing field, in the world.”
  • “It’s not the guns that kill, it’s the people.”
  • “I have nothing against guns, I think they are cool and I love that we have them in the house. My friends are very impressed by the collection we have.”
  • “It’s up to us as citizens to protect ourselves, our family and property. Our constitution provides us with the right and method by which to achieve that objective, and I simply choose to exercise that right.”
  • “I think the ownership of arms is not only a right, but the duty of a free people to themselves and future generation.”

Goodness gracious me.

[Full podcast here.]

Bizarre Kalashnikov Museum Evokes the Cult of Lenin

by Neil Woodburn on

You can take Russia out of the Soviet Union, but you can’t take the Soviet out of some Russians.

Three years ago, in celebration of Mikhail Kalashnikov’s 85th birthday, a museum was opened in the Russian city of Izhevsk to honor Kalashnikov’s most enduring gift to the world; the AK-47 submachine gun.

An entire museum dedicated to a single gun might seem rather excessive, but this isn’t just any gun; it was a brilliant piece of engineering designed to work flawlessly in the varied, extreme climates of the former Soviet Union. And it did. No other gun is as beloved by forces around the world for its reliability and durability; killing has never been so easy! The damage this gun has done in African civil wars alone is staggering.

Nonetheless, the Russians felt a museum was in order and spent $8 million dollars to build a sparkling new edifice in Kalashnikov’s hometown.

Not being a gun fan, I haven’t made the pilgrimage to the Kalashnikov Weapons Museum and Exhibition Center, but have spent the last 30 minutes on an extensive virtual tour thanks to the folks at AK47-Guide.com.

The result was a virtual travel back in time to the Soviet era and their passion for deifying illustrious figureheads. The museum contains bronze statues of Kalashnikov, replications of his dacha, his favorite place to work at home, and the actual desk used to design the weapon. There are entire display cases dedicated to the awards he received as well as the numerous gifts from fans spanning the globe. Personal articles, black and white photographs of the great man, cases and cases of guns, as well as a strange display of Kalashnikov Vodka fill out the rest of the exhibit. This, folks, is no different than every Lenin museum I visited in the Soviet Union in 1991. Except, of course, the vodka display.

Oh, and in case this museum doesn’t quench your thirst for all things AK-47, come back to Izhevsk in a couple of years; if plans go accordingly, the city will boast the world’s first hotel designed in the shape of a gun (a Kalashnikov, of course!).