This is the Sunday story.

I'm Andrew Mambo, a producer on the show, and I'm sitting in for Aisha Roscoe who's out this week.

Today, we're going to be talking about guns.

Guns regularly make headline news for all the wrong reasons.

But as often as we talk about guns, we don't really talk much about our relationship with them.

And from my years as a producer, connecting with people around the country,

I know the relationship we have with guns can be so different and complex and at times

even contradictory. And that got me thinking about point of view and how the story of American gun

culture often depends on who's telling it. Today I'm joined by Alan Stevens. He's the host of a new podcast from

W-B-U-R called the gun machine, which looks at the ways the gun industry has

developed and thrived since the founding of the nation.

For most of America's history, there is this symbiotic supportive relationship

between the government and the gun industry.

Alon comes to this story as a former member of the military, a former police officer, a victim of gun

violence, a black man in America, and now as a journalist with the trace, a newsroom dedicated

to reporting on American gun violence.

Alon, welcome to the Sunday story.

Thanks for having me.

So your podcast digs into the complex relationship

between the gun industry and the government.

And even though that relationship can seem to be antagonistic,

you show it's actually often mutually beneficial.

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