🎙️ Show Notes

Ashley Hlebinsky on Firearms History, Culture, and the Realities of the “Gun Community”

👥 Hosts:

Edgar Antillon
Guest: Ashley Hlebinsky – firearms historian, consultant, museum curator, researcher, and media contributor.

🧾 Episode Overview

In this episode, Edgar sits down with Ashley Hlebinsky, one of the most well-known firearms historians working today. Ashley discusses her work with museums, academia, and TV, and how her expertise intersects with current gun debates, law, and culture.

This conversation gets real about the gun industry, online discourse, and the complex relationship people have with firearms. Ashley and Edgar challenge conventional narratives, explore historical context, and talk about the uncomfortable truths most people avoid.

🏛️ Who is Ashley?

Ashley is a firearms historian and consultant with a long and impressive resume:

Former curator of the Cody Firearms Museum in Wyoming, where she led a major rebuild and modernization.
Founder/director of a research center at the University of Wyoming, and another in the UK.
Works with multiple institutions, including the LA Police Museum and the Mob Museum.
Building museums for major firearms companies and a machine gun museum in Canada.
Regular contributor to Discovery Channel, Nat Geo, and other networks.

Despite the résumé, she jokes that most people don’t know who she is because “nobody watches TV anymore.”

📜 Firearms History vs. Popular Narratives

Ashley explores how history is often misunderstood—and how it does not align with the romanticized version of America as an unregulated Wild West.

Some takeaways:

Concealed carry was often illegal in the 19th century because it was seen as suspicious.
Open carry was generally legal, but many towns required guns to be checked in.
Early gun laws often had racial motivations, especially in the antebellum South.
The idea that America has always been “pro-gun freedom” is historically inaccurate.

⚖️ Law, Bruen, and Historical Analogues

Ashley dives deep into the Supreme Court’s Bruen decision (2022) and its consequences:

Courts now look to history to evaluate firearm regulations.
The most important eras:
- Founding era
- Reconstruction / 14th Amendment
- Pre-/post-enactment
20th century laws (mag bans, assault weapon bans, etc.) are least influential historically.
Courts seek “historical analogues”—but often misuse history due to lack of firearms literacy in academia.

🌐 Internet Culture & Toxicity

Ashley and Edgar get real about online behavior in the gun world:

The gun community eats its own, often more viciously than its political opponents.
People online reject nuance, preferring outrage and purity tests.
Experts are pressured to “pick a side,” even when their role is academic or neutral.
Ashley has been called both a Bolshevik and a gun industry shill—within 24 hours.
Harassment often targets mental health, regardless of ideology.

🧠 Words, Labels, and Pissing People Off

Ashley gleefully admits she uses “trigger words” like:

“Silencer”
“Assault rifle”

Not to be edgy—but because:

They are historically correct terms, even if unpopular.
Denying a term doesn’t make it vanish.

Her stance:

“You don’t have to like the term, but that doesn’t make it not exist.”

🤝 Is There Even a Gun Community?

The panel at a recent symposium explored this, and the conclusion was bleak:

The “firearms community” is not a unified group—it’s a label projected by others.
Most gun owners just own guns and don’t care about activism or culture.
Industry, influencers, and academics live in different universes.
Ashley herself isn’t sure she belongs in it.

🧩 Personal Identity vs. Professional Neutrality

Ashley explains the tightrope she walks:

As a historian and educator, she avoids taking public policy positions.
She aims to provide context, not advocacy.
Both pro-gun and anti-gun groups often project beliefs onto her.
Saying anything nuanced can risk her career.

🧨 Controversy, Authenticity, and Calling BS

Edgar reflects on his own approach:

He refuses to tiptoe around powerful organizations.
Calls out BS publicly rather than whispering in private.
Believes progress requires conflict and honesty, not circle-jerking.
Acknowledges this approach makes the show less “popular,” but more real.

🧭 Major Themes & Takeaways

1. History is messy, not ideological

People cherry-pick history to justify modern beliefs.

2. Gun debates lack nuance

Most participants don’t know the history—or don’t care to.

3. Internet culture rewards outrage

Experts who refuse simplistic narratives become targets.

4. The “gun community” is fractured

Different segments don’t share values, priorities, or goals.

5. Mental health stigma is universal

Both sides weaponize it in bad faith.

6. Truth-telling has social costs

But it’s the only way to grow.

🧑‍🔬 Quotes Worth Remembering

“I don’t think owning a gun automatically makes someone a Second Amendment advocate.”

“People don’t want nuance. They want to declare you the enemy.”

“I have to remain impartial so people can ask me questions.”

“The gun world says it hates cancel culture… then cancels harder than anybody.”

“You don’t have to like the term ‘assault rifle,’ but that doesn’t make it go away.”

🔗 About the Guest

Ashley Hlebinsky is one of the foremost firearms historians in the world.
Find her work through museums, academic programs, or TV.
(Not much social media because… the internet sucks.)

❤️ Support GFEN & SAFE

This show is produced by Guns For Everyone National, a 501(c)(3) focused on firearms training, community education, and suicide prevention.

Learn more, donate, or attend events at:
👉 https://gfenational.com
👉 https://gfensafe.org

🔥 Final Thought

This episode isn’t about dunking on political opponents.

It’s about challenging dogma—in our own tribe.
Understanding history.
Engaging honestly.
And refusing to be bullied into ideological simplicity.

If you want cheerleading, this ain’t the show.

If you want truth… pull up a chair.

Ashley Hlebinsky Fills in For Isaac