For hundreds of years, the systems provisioning firearms to Latin America states, insurgents, markets, and criminals have had important societal consequences. The constant supply of guns has accelerated widespread violence at an individual level that in the aggregate has facilitated colonial rule, brutal institutions of slavery, numerous insurrections and border wars and, in more recent times, drug trafficking and the social disruption of communities. Firearms also have enabled national independence movements, hunting for necessary sustenance, physical protection from animal and human predators, and the enjoyment of shooting sports past and present. This article provides an account of Latin American firearms provisioning from the time of European arrival and conquest into the twenty-first century and considers some of the many ensuing societal effects. Historical research, a key component of the macromarketing domain, provides a broader understanding of firearms and gun cultures in the region.
Aguirre TobónKatherine (2011), “El Tráfico de Armas en Colombia: Una Revisión Desde los Origenes a los Destinos (Arms Trafficking in Colombia: A Review from the Origins to Destinations),” Urvio Revista Latinoamericana de Seguridad Ciudadana (Urvio Latin American Journal of Citizen Security), 10 (November), 36‐59.
4.
BarriosAndrés Alberto (2021), Personal communication via email, (January 17).
5.
BarriosAndres Farjardo, ShultzClifford and Juan Carlos Montes Joya (2019), “Entrepreneurship as Boundary Object: Toward Reintegration of Colombia's Ex-Militants into Civil Society,” Journal of Macromarketing, 39 (4), 368‐84.
6.
BlaufarbRafe (2016), “Arms for Revolutions: Military Demobilization After the Napoleonic Wars and Latin American Independence,” in War, Demobilization and Memory: The Legacy of War in the Era of Atlantic Revolutions War, Culture and Society, 1750–1850, ForrestAlanHagemannKarenRoweMichael, eds. London: Palgrave, 100‐16.
ConejoFrancisco (2021), Personal communication via email, (August 16).
15.
CramerClayton E (2018), Lock, Stock and Barrel: The Origins of American Gun Culture. Santa Barbara, CA: Praeger.
16.
DaehnhardtRainer (1977), “First Steps Towards an Introduction into the Study of Early Gunmaking in the Portuguese World, 1450–1650,” American Society of Arms Collectors Bulletin, 37 (Fall), 1‐8.
17.
DeLayBrian (2013), “How Not to Arm a State: American Guns and the Crisis of Governance in Mexico, Nineteenth and Twenty-First Centuries,” Southern California Quarterly, 95 (1), 5‐23.
18.
DolinEric Jay (2010), Fur, Fortune, and Empire: The Epic History of the Fur Trade in America. New York: W.W. Norton & Company.
19.
Donahue-WallaceKelly (2008), Art and Architecture of Viceregal Latin America, 1521–1821. Albuquerque: University of New Mexico Press.
20.
DugganMark (2001), “More Guns, More Crime,” Journal of Political Economy, 109 (5), 1086‐114.
21.
EschSophie (2018), Modernity at Gunpoint: Firearms, Politics, and Culture in Mexico and Central America. Pittsburgh, PA: University of Pittsburgh Press.
22.
FiskGeorge (1981), “An Invitation to Participate in Affairs of the Journal of Macromarketing,” Journal of Macromarketing, 1 (1), 3‐6.
HaagPamela (2016), The Gunning of America: Business and the Making of American Gun Culture. New York: Basic Books.
30.
HaysG.Jenzen-JonesN. R. (2018), Beyond State Control: Improvised and Craft-Produced Small Arms and Light Weapons. Geneva, Switzerland: Small Arms Survey.
31.
HemenwayDavid (2011), “Risks and Benefits of a Gun in the Home,” American Journal of Lifestyle Medicine, 5 (6), 502‐11.
32.
HenningRobert A.WitkowskiTerrence H. (2013), “The Advertising of E. Remington & Sons: The Creation of a National Brand, 1854–1888,” Journal of Historical Research in Marketing, 5 (4), 418‐38.
33.
HerzbergJulia (1986), “Angels with Guns: Image & Interpretation,” in Gloria in Excelsis: The Virgin and Angels in Viceregal Paintings of Peru and Bolivia, DuncanBarbaraGisbertTeresa, eds. New York: Center for Inter-American Relations, 64‐75.
34.
HollanderStanley C.RassuliKathleen M.Brian JonesD. G.DixLaura F. (2005), “Periodization in Marketing History,” Journal of Macromarketing, 25 (June), 32‐41.
35.
HouzeHerbert G (1994), Winchester Repeating Arms Company: Its History & Development from 1865 to 1981. Iola, WI: Krause Publications.
Naghavi, Mohsen, Laurie B. Marczak, Michael Kutz, Katya Anne Shackelford, Megha Arora, Molly Miller-Petrie, et al. (2018), “Global Mortality from Firearms, 1990–2016,” Journal of the American Medical Association, 320 (8/August 28), 792‐814.
61.
NeumannWilliam L (1947), “United States Aid to the Chilean Wars of Independence,” The Hispanic American Historical Review, 27 (2), 204‐19.
62.
NicolleDavidEmbletonGerryEmbletonSam (2012), The Portuguese in the Age of Discovery c.1340–1665. Oxford, UK: Osprey Publishing.
PetersonHarold L (1956), Arms and Armor in Colonial America, 1526–1783. New York: Bramhall House.
65.
PetersonPhilip (2020), Standard Catalog of Military Firearms: The Collector's Price and Reference Guide, 9th Edition. Appleton, WI: Gun Digest Books.
66.
Quinnipiac/Poll (2021), “Majority Support Stricter Gun Laws, Quinnipiac University National Poll Finds; Stark Divides On Views Of Police And Voting Issues,” (April 15), (accessed May 12, 2021), [available athttps://poll.qu.edu/poll-release?releaseid=3809].
RattenburyRichard C (2004), The Art of American Arms Makers: Marketing Guns, Ammunition and Western Adventure During the Golden Age of Illustration. Oklahoma City: National Cowboy & Western Heritage Museum.
69.
RêgoCacilda (2014), “Centering the Margins: The Modern Favela in the Brazilian Telenovela,” in Brazil in Twenty-First Century Popular Media: Culture, Politics, and Nationalism on the World Stage, Pueo WoodNaomi, ed. Lanham, MD: Lexington Books, 91‐110.
SchwingNed (2002), “2003 Standard Catalog of Firearms: The Collector's Price & Reference Guide, Iola,” WI: Drause Publications.
75.
SewellWilliam H.Jr. (2005), Logics of History: Social Theory and Social Transformation. Chicago: The University of Chicago Press.
76.
SilvermanDavid J (2016), Thundersticks: Firearms and the Violent Transformation of Native America. Cambridge, MA: The Belknap Press of Harvard University Press.
TaylorJimmy D (2009), American Gun Culture: Collectors, Shows and the Story of the Gun. El Paso, TX: LFB Scholarly Publishing LLC.
81.
The Winchester Herald (1925), “Winchester Host to U.S. Shooters When Team Visits Peru,” The Winchester Herald, 6 (1/2), 14.
82.
ThompsonI. A. A. (1976), War and Government in Habsburg Spain. London: The Athlone Press.
83.
UNHDR (2019), Human Development Report 2019. New York: United Nations Human Development Programme.
84.
UNODC (2012), Transnational Organized Crime in Central America and the Caribbean: A Threat Assessment. Vienna: United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime.
85.
UNODC (2020), Global Study on Firearms Trafficking 2020, United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime. New York: United Nations.
U.S. Department of Commerce (1914), Trade Directory of South America. Bureau of Foreign and Domestic Commerce, Washington, D.C.: U.S. Government Printing Office.
88.
Violence Policy Center (2020), “The Long-Term Decline of Gun Ownership in America: 1973 to 2018,” (June), (accessed August 20, 20210, [available athttps://vpc.org/studies/ownership.pdf].
89.
WellsNoel (2006), Small Arms of the Spanish Treasure Fleets. Dallas: Rock Bottom Publications.
90.
WhitakerArthur Preston (1941), The United States and the Independence of Latin America, 1800–1830. New York: Russell & Russell.
91.
WilliamsonEdwin (2009), The Penguin History of Latin America, Revised Edition. London: Penguin Books.
92.
WilliamsonHarold L (1952), Winchester: The Gun That Won the West. Washington, D.C.: The Sportsman's Press.
93.
Winchester Record (1918), “We Make Our Bow,” 1 (1/August 16), 6.
94.
Winchester Record (1919a), “Colonel Tom Addis Carries the Winchester into Mexico,” 1 (15/February 28), 1–3.
95.
Winchester Record (1919b), “Winchester Office at Buenos Aires,” 2 (4/September 26), 3.
96.
Winchester Record (1920a), “Our South American Friends,” 3 (2/August 27), 4.
97.
Winchester Record (1920b), “Another South American Window,” 3 (4/September 24), 4.
98.
WiseTerenceMcBrideAngus (1980), The Conquistadores. Oxford, UK: Osprey Publishing Ltd.
99.
WitkowskiTerrence H (2020), “Arms and Armor Collecting in America: History, Community, and Cultural Meaning,” Journal of Historical Research in Marketing, 12 (4), 421‐47.
