One of the reasons for the proliferation of guns in the United States

One of the reasons for the proliferation of guns in the United States

Looking at the United States now, there are shootings from time to time. It's really a free America, shooting every day. The proliferation of guns in the United States naturally has its historical reasons. Generally speaking, the gunfire in Lexington started the American War of Independence, and then the British were driven out with red necks. So Americans have written the right of citizens to bear arms into the Constitution.

That's true, but it's just one of the reasons for the proliferation of guns in the United States. So today we will talk about the influence of the westward movement of the United States on the popularity of guns from another angle.

After the United States became independent from 1783, the territory was divided into 13 states in the east. But this place was colonized by Britain before, and the land was basically privatized. However, there is a lot of land in the west. Although these lands are nominally owned by France, Spain and Britain, since the United States is independent, it has the capital to negotiate, and the whole east coast is their territory. Those people in Europe didn't want to come until they saw the face of the United States, so Americans gradually bought Louisiana, Texas, New Mexico and Oregon at very low prices.

Then, Americans began to travel westward by caravan.

Then the problem is coming. The land in the western United States is extremely primitive. Bison and elk are angry herbivores and like to push people. There are also many aggressive animals such as wolves, bears and leopards. Residents who go there must carry guns to prevent wild animals from invading. To say the least, eating white-tailed deer wild ducks is much more convenient than fishing traps.

On the other hand, American immigration and western development will inevitably infringe on the survival of local Indian aborigines. Therefore, the westward movement of the United States is accompanied by the history of Indian blood and tears.

When their homes are destroyed and their people are slaughtered, Indian aborigines will naturally catch white people and kill them. At that time, the law enforcement police force in the western United States was almost zero, so almost all Americans who moved westward were armed.

By 1830, the United States promulgated the Indian Immigration Act, which planned to drive all Indians to barren reservations. Of course, the Indians refused, and then the Americans immediately organized militia to find Indians who did not want to leave their hometown and carried out organized slaughter. As a result, the enemies on both sides got deeper and deeper, but the bow could not deal with the gun after all, and the Indians who were slaughtered almost completely had to compromise at last.

In addition, the westward movement not only attracted pioneers, investors and gold diggers, but also attracted a bunch of speculators and robbers. After all, there are few wild westerners and it is difficult to cover them even with police, so theft, robbery and kidnapping are very common. Everyone who lives in the west must learn to use a gun. So up to now, we might as well look at the gun ratio map in the United States now.

The gun rate in the original thirteen States was not high, but the farther west, the higher the gun rate in places with less population, which can well explain the gun culture imprint brought by the westward movement to the western States.