Did you know that one in 20 American adults bought a gun for the first time during the pandemic? For the last several months, whenever someone asked what I was working on, I couldn't help but respond with that question. What drove so many people to decide they needed a gun for the first time? And what were the implications of so many people deciding that they needed to arm themselves, in a country already awash in guns?
Writing about guns is controversial. Some people hate guns and don’t want to hear about why someone might want to arm themselves. Others refuse to acknowledge that guns are dangerous and are the reason we have higher homicide rates than our peer nations. It’s easy, and tempting, to ignore data that doesn’t fit our preconceived beliefs. But understanding what changed in our relationship to guns is critically important — both for understanding our recent past, and for protecting our future.
—Marin Cogan, senior features correspondent
