Shall Not Be Infringed

Trailer: In Guns We Trust

Long Shadow - A Uniquely American Problem

<p>Mass shootings have plagued the U.S. for generations. But in 1999, when shots rang out in a suburban Denver school, it was different. What changed? Everything.</p>

A Uniquely American Problem

At a time when information continues to come at us faster and faster, sometimes you need to hit pause.

NPR's Thuleine takes you back in time to the source of the news stories filling your

feed. Find NPR's Thuleine wherever you get your podcasts.

There's a Christian church in Pennsylvania. On Sundays, dozens of congregants file in, men, women, families with their kids.

They pray and listen to readings from the Bible.

The pastor wears a gold crown, encrusted with bullets,

Now the two parents and the second king and queen will enter.

His brother is the CEO of a local gun manufacturing company

and their late father was Reverend Sun Meang Moon,

a self-proclaimed Messiah and the leader of an ultra-conservative church, often compared to a cult.

Pastor Sean Moon's Church, Rod of Iron Ministries, is a lot like his dads.

But he believes that the AR-15 is a divine instrument, the modern embodiment of a rod of iron referenced in the book of

revelation. The center of the kingdom of God is the crown and land ownership and guns, the AR 15 assault rifle, the rod of iron, it's the

center of the kingdom. This is obviously not your average church, and its members don't represent the average gun owner.

But to some, this church might seem the epitome of gun culture in America. And it fits a sort of caricature of gun rights proponents.

Today, more than ever, guns are a lifestyle and a divisive political symbol, worshipped by some,

The April 1999 massacre at Columbine High School hurtled the United States into an era of mass shootings. Now, a quarter century later, the horrors of that day have become an almost regular facet of American life, and gun violence a record-smashing epidemic. Clad in both camouflage and Kevlar, 21st-century America is a bastion of freedom where workplaces require active shooter protocols, schools run lockdown drills, and the Second Amendment has become a religion unto itself.Guns are a uniquely American problem, but the U.S. wasn’t always like this. LONG SHADOW: IN GUNS WE TRUST explores the story of the people — some names you'll know, some you won't — who changed the way America relates to guns, for better or worse. This season, host Garrett Graff, in collaboration with The Trace, chronicles how firearms moved from being an ordinary part of the background of rural life to a menacing element of modern American life.Crackling with rich archival tape and riveting eyewitness and expert interviews, this narrative podcast examines threads of history that are vitally relevant to our current political climate. In LONG SHADOW’s first season, Graff, a Pulitzer-finalist and a best-selling author and historian, examined the lingering questions of 9/11, the worst terrorist attack on U.S. soil. Season two chronicled how bloody tragedies at the hands of federal agents led to the rise of American far-right extremism and ultimately the January 6 insurrection. Season three will help listeners understand how simply carrying firearms has become its own act of defiance, and how a very specific, carefully manufactured fear has driven explosive demand for guns across America. How did we get here? Subscribe and listen to LONG SHADOW to find out.LONG SHADOW: IN GUNS WE TRUST is produced by <a href="https://www.longlead.com">Long Lead</a> and <a href="https://www.campsidemedia.com">Campside Media</a> in collaboration with <a href="https://www.thetrace.org">The Trace</a>, and is distributed by <a href="https://www.prx.org">PRX</a>.

0:00.0	At a time when information continues to come at us faster and faster, sometimes you need to hit pause.
0:07.0	And rewind.
0:10.0	NPR's Thuleine takes you back in time to the source of the news stories filling your
0:17.0	feed. Find NPR's Thuleine wherever you get your podcasts.
0:31.0	There's a Christian church in Pennsylvania. On Sundays, dozens of congregants file in, men, women, families with their kids.
0:39.0	They pray and listen to readings from the Bible.
0:42.0	The pastor wears a gold crown, encrusted with bullets,
0:48.0	and he carries an AR-15.
0:50.0	Now the two parents and the second king and queen will enter.
0:54.0	Please greet them with warm applause.
0:57.0	The pastor is Sean Moon.
1:00.0	His followers call him King.
1:03.0	His brother is the CEO of a local gun manufacturing company
1:07.0	and their late father was Reverend Sun Meang Moon,
1:10.0	a self-proclaimed Messiah and the leader of an ultra-conservative church, often compared to a cult.
1:18.1	You may know them as the Moonies.
1:22.2	Pastor Sean Moon's Church, Rod of Iron Ministries, is a lot like his dads.
1:27.0	But he believes that the AR-15 is a divine instrument, the modern embodiment of a rod of iron referenced in the book of
1:36.4	revelation. The center of the kingdom of God is the crown and land ownership and guns, the AR 15 assault rifle, the rod of iron, it's the
1:48.4	center of the kingdom. This is obviously not your average church, and its members don't represent the average gun owner.
1:57.7	But to some, this church might seem the epitome of gun culture in America. And it fits a sort of caricature of gun rights proponents.
2:07.0	Today, more than ever, guns are a lifestyle and a divisive political symbol, worshipped by some,
	...

A Uniquely American Problem

Long Shadow

Long Lead & PRX & The Trace & Campside Media

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