Neither of those facts, however well documented, undermined the mythic power of guns. In fact, they may have enhanced it. For a historian of culture, Bellesiles does not sufficiently respect the reality of illusion. His insistent juxtaposition of the mythical and the real creates a curious contradiction at the heart of his story. The realms of fact and fantasy remain constantly at odds.
Guns are nearly useless, but they are increasingly in demand.
The militia is a muddle, an object of popular contempt, but its mythic power swells. As Slotkin and others have shown, the creation of a gun culture involved far more complex issues than the mass marketing of pistols and the spread of opportunities for target practice.