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Gender and Sexualities

Men and Metal: Expanding Contemporary Understandings of Men’s Gun Ownership and Hybrid Masculinities Abe Neis-Eldridge*, Abe Neis-Eldridge, Ed Morris,

Drawing from 60+ hours of participatory observations and 15 in-depth interviews from summer, 2025, this paper investigates the symbolic meanings rural men associate with their gun ownership, how those meanings are embodied via active gun use, and how those constructions and practices vary throughout individuals’ lives. Observations were conducted at an unmonitored, outdoor, public, shooting range, where the PI brought his own guns and participated with attendees. Informal conversation and observations were documented in real time and followed by interviewing attendees who agreed to participate.

Interviews revealed that participants’ purposes for owning guns varied and had changed over their course of life. Additionally, several older participants reported periods of non-gun ownership or gun ownership without use. This finding complicates understandings of “gun ownership” as a master status around which the rest of one’s life are dominantly structured. Interviewees most often reported their guns being for self or familial defense, however, their descriptions ranged in who they would defend themselves against. Responses included defense against street crime, the PI, tyrannical government, land invasions by China or Russia, and being owned for “offense” against left-coded organizations like BLM and ANTIFA.

Participants’ current purposes for owning guns were often given with great personal significance, however, this contrasts with gun usage observed at the range. Only three interviewees practiced “drills” during observations. Similarly, extensive modifications to participants’ guns and equipment were observed throughout the study, but only one participant brought a timer with his range kit. This indicates that, despite great concern for personal defense, actual gun usage often remains recreational and lightly structured. This project is a part of the PI’s dissertation, and data collection is planned to continue in the summer and fall of 2026.