by A. C. Crabtree

Created on: June 05, 2009   Last Updated: June 10, 2009

The masculine macho persona is so prevalent in today's society that it's hard to miss. We see it in our everyday lives, and highly exaggerated on TV and in movies. The stereotypical macho man we are presented with in the media always seems to have a gun on his hip, a gun in his hand or a gun wildly reporting across our screens in a fantastic action sequence. Any man with a desire to be macho and a TV set understands, if not embodies the desire to possess a gun.

Not all men are (or desire to be) macho though, and the link between macho men and guns is not mutually exclusive. To explore the effect that fewer macho men within society would have on guns in order to determine if obsolescence would result, we should look at how this societal change would affect different types of men.

Macho men that do not own guns would not be affected in terms of guns, accept to the extent that they would not purchase a gun in the future, except for a few exceptions. These now normal, non-macho men may purchase a gun in the future for the exclusive purpose of hunting, marksmanship sports, a mechanical hobby, personal defense or for a job (like policing).

Macho men that do own guns for the sole reason that they believe that their gun adds to their macho persona, would no longer see the need and likely see the danger of their guns. These now normal, non-macho men with no real need for a gun would likely sell their guns introducing them into the market place. They would not likely purchase another gun until such time that they had a reasonable need for one.

Men that were not macho to begin with would be unaffected. They would either remain without guns or continue to use their guns in a responsible manner as hunters, sportsmen, hobbyists, responsible citizens and law enforcement officers.

There is most certainly a large market for guns and gun accessories that are designed for incredible fire power, cool looks and direct marketing to macho men. In fact it represents a large portion of the gun market. Without the market demand (macho men) for guns that exceed the needs of their owners (macho guns) there would certainly be a decline in gun sales, gun ownership and potentially gun violence.

It would be wonderful if we could eliminate gun ownership for strictly macho reasons. There would still be non-macho criminals and non-macho responsible gun owners, but some gun violence would likely be relieved. Ultimately it is clear though that less macho men in society will not, by any means make guns obsolete.

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