Thomas Gibbons-Neff

Meet American Gun Culture’s Biggest Nerds Cloners are a growing population of gun enthusiasts who are mostly millennial and Gen Z white men who look like a mix of ’90s nerds, tactical skateboarders and well-armed commandos.

I've been studying American gun culture for 13 years and @tmgneff.bsky.social continues to unearth aspects of it I've never heard of. Interesting visuals/text essay on "Clone Shoot #III."

Gift article from @nytimes.com

www.nytimes.com/card/2025/12...

Meet American Gun Culture’s Biggest Nerds Cloners are a growing population of gun enthusiasts who are mostly millennial and Gen Z white men who look like a mix of ’90s nerds, tactical skateboarders and well-armed commandos.

"A modified version defines the cloning movement: a mixture of Hollywood, history and firearms ingested over the last two decades and distilled down to 'the vibes'.”

Nobody covers firearms in America the way @tmgneff.bsky.social does. Read his work here www.nytimes.com/card/2025/12...

How Gun Blasts From Indoor Shooting May Cause Brain Injuries (Gift Article) The Times tested the blast waves of several popular civilian guns at an indoor range and found that repeated firing could add up to potentially harmful exposure.

Nerdy/extremely cool piece on potential concussive injury from shooting at indoor ranges

This applies newer military findings about accumulated blast damage to the brain over time (as especially reported re special operators)

Much additional research needed /1

www.nytimes.com/interactive/...

How Gun Blasts From Indoor Shooting May Cause Brain Injuries (Gift Article) The Times tested the blast waves of several popular civilian guns at an indoor range and found that repeated firing could add up to potentially harmful exposure.

Think twice about shooting indoors. Great reporting from @tmgneff.bsky.social Dave Phillipps and Jeremy White

www.nytimes.com/interactive/...

Searching for Meaning at the Thunder Ranch Gun School

Thunder Ranch is one of the best-known shooting schools in American gun culture, offering firearms as a way to change your life when all else fails.
www.nytimes.com/2025/08/14/u...

He Was Lost. Could He Find Himself in a Shoot House?

“There has to be something better than waking up every goddamn day and feeling like you’re doing nothing"

A remarkable story about trying to find meaning and purpose in a kill house, by @tmgneff.bsky.social

www.nytimes.com/2025/08/14/u...

One thing worth pointing out, the real war is less about the reality of it, and more of an aesthetic palate of which these participants pick from. Whether that’s the type of uniforms, body armor etc.

Why Americans Are Dressing Like Russian Troops in Oklahoma

Americans cosplaying as Russian soldiers in the middle of the Russian invasion of Ukraine is a strange sight to behold, but checks out. Many Americans were disconnected from their own 20 year war.

www.nytimes.com/2025/05/28/u...

How Russia’s Invasion of Ukraine Transformed a Fake War in Oklahoma

Fascinating on the surreal existence of war nerds (‘high school kids with Z taped to pacpacks’) cosplaying the Russia-Ukraine war in the US
www.nytimes.com/2025/05/28/u... via @tmgneff.bsky.social

Gun Owners Are Preparing for When All Hell Breaks Loose (Gift Article) Once thought of as a fringe mind-set, the prepared citizen movement is gaining traction in a world shaped by war, the pandemic and extreme weather.

Gift link to a good & fair article on "Prepared Citizens" in @nytimes.com by @tmgneff.bsky.social that looks at developments in Gun Culture 2.0. Is it Gun Culture 2.5? Gun Culture 3.0? Whatever it is, it's interesting.

www.nytimes.com/2025/04/09/u...

Gun Owners Are Preparing for When All Hell Breaks Loose (Gift Article) Once thought of as a fringe mind-set, the prepared citizen movement is gaining traction in a world shaped by war, the pandemic and extreme weather.

A look at the prepared citizen movement in the gun space. Really strikes me as a need for community outside traditional, and older pillars of gun ownership such as rifle clubs and the NRA www.nytimes.com/2025/04/09/u...

OSD 315: The best new gun publication in 2025 is … The New York Times The New York Times ran a profile of Rooftop Defense on Saturday.

Wild to see this shout from open source defense and I hope our coverage continues to be palatable to both sides of the US gun spectrum.

The New American Gun Store: Grips, Grenade Launchers and Ramen Noodles (Gift Article) A new crop of retailers is profiting more from limited-edition accessories that sell out in minutes, and promoting lifestyle gear to women, minority gun owners and the L.G.B.T.Q. community.

The New American Gun Store: Grips, Grenade Launchers and Ramen Noodles. Interesting story by @tmgneff.bsky.social in @nytimes.com yesterday.

GIFT LINK TO ARTICLE:
www.nytimes.com/2025/03/01/u...

The New American Gun Store: Grips, Grenade Launchers and Ramen Noodles A new crop of retailers is profiting more from limited-edition accessories that sell out in minutes, and promoting lifestyle gear to women, minority gun owners and the L.G.B.T.Q. community.

The new American gun store is accessory focused and caters to customers obsessed with customizing AR-15s www.nytimes.com/2025/03/01/u...

Picking Up My Rifle Once More as I Cover Guns in America A reporter and former infantryman in Afghanistan had let his AR-15, used for target shooting, collect dust. Then he began writing about gun culture.

An essay that hopefully explains my approach to this new beat, and my relationship to guns over the years.

How YouTube Is Changing American Gun Culture Influencers known as guntubers are delving into the world of firearms, showing viewers everything from how to shoot to how to modify an AR-15.

A story about GunTube, a subculture that is changing how younger generations relate to firearms in the US

Hi there, I cover gun culture in the US for The New York Times. Any tips, jokes or death threats email me at Thomas.gibbons-neff@protonmail.com