This paper presents a case study of how a fringe idea moves into the cultural mainstream. In its cultural and political project to defend the Second Amendment, the National Rifle Association (NRA) embraced New War culture, a counter-cultural response to the trauma of the war in Vietnam, which extended warrior honor to armed men defending their families from an increasingly hostile world and a suspect government that might try to disarm them. Using textual analysis of the American Rifleman, we explore how the NRA co-opted narratives of soldiers' sacrifice for the nation to promote a New War cultural message. We find that magazine contributors retooled the traditional narrative to feature non-military protagonists, to differentiate the nation from the government, and to spotlight freedom as a sacrificial cause. With their strong civil religious overtones, the NRA's sacrifice narratives served as value-laden signposts that elevated the Second Amendment to a sacred God-given freedom, extended the consecration from sacrifice to encompass their mainstream audience of gun owners, and identified political and cultural enemies. These classic American narratives of soldiers’ sacrifice for the nation were thus co-opted to deliver a simultaneously patriotic and anti-government counter-cultural message that would resonate with mainstream American culture.

本文介绍了一个关于边缘思想如何进入文化主流的案例研究。在捍卫第二修正案的文化和政治项目中，全国步枪协会 (NRA) 接受了新战争文化，这是对越南战争创伤的反文化回应，它将战士的荣誉授予保护家人免受战争伤害的武装人员。日益敌对的世界和一个可能试图解除他们武装的可疑政府。使用美国步枪兵的文本分析，我们探讨了 NRA 如何利用士兵为国家牺牲的故事来宣传新战争的文化信息。我们发现，杂志撰稿人对传统叙事进行了改造，以描绘非军事主角，将国家与政府区分开来，并将自由作为一种牺牲事业。凭借其强烈的民间宗教色彩，全国步枪协会的牺牲叙述充当了充满价值的路标，将第二修正案提升为上帝赋予的神圣自由，将献祭从牺牲扩展到包括枪支拥有者的主流受众，并确定政治和文化敌人.