The increasing frequency of mass shootings in the United States has, unfortunately, become a norm. While the issue of gun control in the US involves complex legal concerns, there are also societal issues at play. One such social issue is so-called "gun culture," i.e., a general set of beliefs and actions related to gun ownership. However relatively little is known about gun culture, and even less is known when it comes to fringe online communities. This is especially worrying considering the aforementioned rise in mass shootings and numerous instances of shooters being radicalized online. To address this gap, we explore gun culture on /k/, 4chan's weapons board. More specifically, using a variety of quantitative techniques, we examine over 4M posts on /k/ and position their discussion within the larger body of theoretical understanding of gun culture. Among other things, our findings suggest that gun culture on /k/ covers a relatively diverse set of topics (with a particular focus on legal discussion), some of which are signals of fetishism.

翻译：美国大规模枪击事件的频发已不幸成为常态。虽然美国枪支管控问题涉及复杂的法律考量，但同样存在社会因素在起作用。其中一个社会问题便是所谓的"枪支文化"，即与枪支所有权相关的一套普遍信念与行为模式。然而，学界对枪支文化的了解相对有限，对于边缘网络社群中的枪支文化更是知之甚少。考虑到前述大规模枪击事件的增加以及多起枪手通过网络激进的案例，这一知识缺口尤为令人担忧。为填补这一空白，我们探究了4chan武器版块/k/中的枪支文化。具体而言，我们运用多种量化技术分析了/k/上超过400万条帖子，并将其讨论置于枪支文化理论认知的更广阔框架中。研究结果表明，/k/上的枪支文化涉及相对多元的话题（尤其聚焦于法律讨论），其中部分内容体现了恋物倾向的信号。