The EU-GUNS project explores the circulation of firearms across borders via wider European trade networks, as well as the development of transnational civilian gun markets. The project also investigates state attempts to regulate the production, commercialisation, and possession of small arms.
Source image: Biblioteca Queriniana of Brescia, Catalogo della Fabbrica d'Armi Pietro Beretta, 1913, n. 51 (P1D1 SB1.LL.VI.13m15)
From the very beginning, we have closely collaborated with Linking Arms, having co-organised two joint workshops, in January 2025 and March 2026, as well as joint panels at international conferences, including the ESSHC in Leiden in March 2025 and the AHA Annual Meeting in Chicago in January 2026.
Hunting shotguns, revolvers and semi-automatic pistols, especially those imported from Belgium and Spain, flooded the country and were widely advertised in specialised magazines and the catalogues of major Italian gunmakers.
We congratulate Rosamund on her article and look forward to further academic exchange and collaborations!
At the beginning of the 20th century, Italy was far from being the global firearms producer it is today. Even its domestic civilian gun market was heavily shaped by foreign competition. #euguns #globarms #gunhistory #italianhistory #unipd #dissgea
She is the Principal Investigator of “Linking Arms: Central Europe's Weapons Sector, 1954 – 1994”, a project focusing on arms production in Austria and Czechoslovakia and based at the Research Centre for the History of Transformations (@recetvienna.bsky.social) at @univie.ac.at.
In EU-GUNS, we explore how guns highlight the interplay between militarism and civilian life, both through professional and leisure activities. #euguns #eugunssnippets #gunhistory #swedishhistory #sporthistory
Image source: Nordiska museet, Wikimedia Commons (Public domain)
Modern biathlon was invented by a Swede in 1960, but the sport has its roots in both Sweden and Norway. While Scandinavian biathlon culture is largely civilian today, pre-Second-World-War competitions were heavily influenced by militarism and a rhetoric of national defence and shooting prowess.
Our friend, Dr. Rosamund Johnston, has just published an article on Czechoslovakia’s Cold War arms towns as sites of military globalisation with Sage Journals! (journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/...) #euguns #globarms #linkingarms #unipd #dissgea #univie #recetvienna #gunhistory #armshistory
