Gun politics is defined in the United States by two primary opposing ideologies concerning the private ownership of firearms. Those who advocate for gun control support increasingly restrictive regulation of gun ownership; those who advocate for gun rights oppose increased restriction, or support the liberalization of gun ownership. These groups typically disagree on the interpretation of the text, history and tradition of the laws and judicial opinions concerning gun ownership in the United States and the meaning of the Second Amendment to the Constitution of the United States. American gun politics involves these groups' further disagreement concerning the role of firearms in public safety, the studied effects of ownership of firearms on public health and safety, and the role of guns in national and state crime.
American gun politics is increasingly a question of demography and political party affiliation, and features well-known gender, age and income gaps according to major social surveys.
History
Firearms in American life begin with the earliest attempts to settle and colonize the United States. Firearms were made, imported and provided for agrarian, hunting, defense and diplomatic purposes. A connection between shooting skills and survival among American men in the colonial expanses was often a necessity, and could serve as a 'rite of passage' for those entering manhood. Today, the figures of the settler colonist, hunter and outdoorsman survive as central to American gun culture, regardless of modern trends away from hunting and rural life.
Prior to the American Revolution, there was neither the ability nor political desire to maintain a standing army in the American colonies. Since at least the time of the Glorious Revolution, English political ideology was strongly opposed to the idea of a standing army. Therefore, the armed citizen-soldier carried responsibility. Service in colonial militia, including providing one's own ammunition and weapons, was mandatory for all men. Yet, as early as the 1790s, the mandatory universal militia duty evolved gradually to voluntary militia units and a reliance on a regular army. Throughout the 19th century the institution of the organized civilian militia gradually declined. The unorganized civilian militia under current U.S. law consists of all able-bodied males at least seventeen years of age and under the age of 45—with some exceptions—who are not members of the National Guard or Naval Militia, as codified in .