“拿张贴纸，”一名伏击步枪后的女人催促到。“我们每天向佩戴此贴纸的人免费发放两支枪”。我们不清楚一名记者拿着一把半自动步枪有何用处，更何况这枪式粉红色的。欢迎来到全国步枪协会的年度盛会，今年在密苏里州的圣路易斯市举行。宪法第二修正案允许公民持枪，这不仅是一场自由的庆祝会，更是各色枪支的盛会。更确切地说，整整七英里都摆放着各种枪支和配件。

　　Americans like firearms. According to a report from the Congressional Research Service there were 294m guns in the country in 2007, up from 192m in 1994. More guns might be expected to mean more influence for the NRA, except that the number of households with guns has actually declined fairly consistently since 1973. The people who buy guns, it seems, are usually those who already own them. One probable cause of this decline is a shift to urban living. Moreover, safety-conscious Americans are increasingly aware that, statistically, a gun is a far greater risk to friends and family than it is of potential use in self-defence.

　　美国人喜欢摆弄枪支。根据国会研究服务报道，美国2007年拥有2亿9400万支枪，而在1994年才仅有1亿9200万支。尽管枪支数量的增加可能让人觉得全国步枪协会的影响力不断增加，但实际上拥有枪支家庭的数量从1973年开始一直大幅下降。看起来，买枪的是那些已经有枪的人。持枪家庭数量下降的一个可能原因是居民生活的城市化。而且，人们逐渐意识到：据统计，枪支给家庭和朋友带来的风险远远大于枪支用于自卫的用途。

　　Nonetheless, some Americans hang on to their weapons because they enjoy hunting or target practice, or live in places with too many wild animals or too few policemen. The right to gun ownership is enshrined in the constitution and is regarded by many as an issue of civil liberty—something that Europeans struggle to understand. So even as outrage is sparked over shootings such as that of Trayvon Martin in Florida and former congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords in Arizona, there is little appetite for gun-control legislation.

　　尽管如此，一些美国人还是喜欢配枪，因为他们要么喜欢打猎或打靶，要么住在野生动物多或者警察太少的地方。持枪权利被写入宪法，而且被许多人视为公民自由。然而欧洲人对这却难以理解。尽管人们对福罗里达州的Trayvon Martin枪击案和前国会女议员Gabrielle Giffords枪击案极其愤怒，这也没有引发枪支管制的立法。

　　Quite the opposite. Behind the march of pro-gun laws across America (such as “stand your ground” ordinances that allow for the use of force in self-defence, without any obligation to attempt to retreat first, now in effect in more than half the states) is the NRA and its lobbying arm, the mildly-named Institute for Legislative Action. The NRA’s influence on introducing legislation has been remarkable. The debate about guns is no longer over whether assault rifles ought to be banned, but over whether guns should be allowed in bars, churches and colleges.

　　恰恰相反，全美赞成持枪法案（如“坚守阵地”法案允许使用枪支自卫，在防卫撤退中不负任何责任，这一法令在超过半数的州中生效）的游行队伍中是支持全美赞成持枪法案的是“全国步枪协会”及其游说分支—名字看上去很温和的“立法行动学院”。全国步枪协会在立法运动中的影响极其显著。人们对于枪支的争论点不再是是否应该禁止使用冲锋枪，而是在酒吧、教堂和大学里是否应该禁止携带枪支。