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As three analysts, we explore the archetype of \u201cthe gun\u201d from a Jungian psychological view and seek to understand it\u2019s influence in the collective psyche of Americans. Guns play a big role in American mythology from the American Revolution to cowboys and first-person shooter games. Guns are symbols of heroic power\u2014but mythology also sounds a cautionary note about what can happen when humans arrogate super-human power to themselves.

The dream:\xa0

When I was a child, around ages 7 to 8, I would dream that my bedroom was covered in lizards. I\u2019d wake up and jump to the floor, run to my parents\u2019 bed, and climb in between them. Sweating, I\u2019d look up to see the eye of a red dragon. Suddenly I was in an old-time saloon and the dragon would just be staring at me. That \u2018s all there was to it, but it was repetitive.