This chapter explores the influence of Westerns, particularly Gunsmoke, on American culture in the mid-1950s. It discusses the lack of diversity and moral ambiguity in these shows, as well as the portrayal of guns and violence. The chapter analyzes a scene from a Western TV show and delves into the contrast between American and Canadian portrayals of violence.
The longest running television series of the 20th century was Gunsmoke, a western set in the notorious Dodge City, Kansas. Malcolm sweeps away mountains of legal scholarship to make a bold claim: The simplest explanation for the Supreme’s Court’s puzzling run of gun rights decisions may be that the justices watched too much Gunsmoke when they were growing up.
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