A beginners map to the changing perceptions of firearms between 1850 and 1950.

Firearms were a strong part of American society at the turn of the 20th century. As an object, they represent more than simply steel and wood, they also represent a piece of the American way of life, especially in rural settings. Leading up until 1850 the firearm in North American offered a sense of protection as well as provision. It was a tool and a weapon to be used to protect or provide for one’s self and one’s family. They stood for something much more than themselves and can be seen in depictions of frontier heroes such as Davy Crockett and Annie Oakley.

Changing Ideals in regards to firearms would lead to the transformation of the conceptional definition of them as an object. What was once a necessity in the home would shift in meaning, spurred by industrialization and the material culture which made many good more accessible to the general US population. For children, what had once been an everyday tool, became an object of recreation. The seriousness of the object and the consequences would be altered permanently. Leading to detrimental impacts homicide mortality rate in the United States. It was the beginning of the American Sportsman and the socio-economic impacts that go along with it.