No matter what my father's intentions, guns are mixed up with masculinity and power in this culture. I've heard many men talk fondly of buying their sons rifles and shotguns, and teaching them to shoot and hunt. Again, this isn't necessarily a terrible thing. Lots of people I have known learned to respect the natural world through responsible hunting. But that does not derail my critique.
Guns are about power and control, the ability to use violence to achieve ends.
What I find disturbing is the linking of that power and control to masculinity, to becoming a man. As a boy, I never wanted to be a man. I still don't want to be, because being a man in this culture means carrying too much of this kind of baggage. For me, guns evoke all those cultural demands, which more than ever I want to reject. I have respect for lots of individual gun owners, especially responsible hunters.